


Occidens Romae: West of Rome

by Aromene



Series: Cardinal Points [3]
Category: Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Alternate Universe, Battle, Destruction, F/M, Family, Volturi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-05
Updated: 2012-08-05
Packaged: 2017-11-11 11:51:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 25,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/478249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aromene/pseuds/Aromene
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As Bella and Edward begin to chart their future together, unbeknown to anyone, Victoria has spent the time planning her revenge and leaving a trail of blood across America and Africa and right to the feet of the Volturi.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Occidens Romae: West of Rome

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Despite the fact that this is the sequel of the sequel of an AU, Twilight and its ever reaching universe is thanks to Stephenie Meyer.
> 
> AN: After writing the sequel to East of Albuquerque, continuing on after that just seemed...logical. However, logic and inspiration rarely go hand in hand. And then I remembered that I'd left Victoria alive in the first story, and yet I had never had a good reason in my head as to why. She comes in handy now. This is sort of a combination of Eclipse and Breaking Dawn (Part 2?) in idea and plot. But time-wise it stands in for Eclipse, taking place in the spring the year after Bella and Edward first meet. The title, for kicks, means West of Rome, and this time I didn't fudge it!
> 
> The story stands thus: Jasper and Alice took care of James, but Victoria escaped. Bella didn't end up bitten and nearly die. She isn't quite as injured during her disastrous birthday party as in New Moon. As such, Edward doesn't leave and is slightly less overprotective. They spend the fall applying for colleges. In November they make a trip to Dartmouth which lands Bella in the hospital. Edward decides he can't live without her and agrees to change her...eventually; but first he wants her to go to college. The Cullens plan to move to Vermont in September.

**Prologue**

 

Seattle is a large enough city to get lost in, even for a vampire. A missing homeless person here, a prostitute there and no one even bats an eyelash. Though they are not her favourite and the kill isn't nearly as fun when the victim has given up on living anyways, she manages to keep herself fed for a few months.

It is a few months of misery. James is _gone_ and she doesn't know what to feel or what to do. She's so angry and so grief stricken at losing her mate and yet the very idea of acting on thoughts of revenge leaves her screaming for hours. James would not want her to run off and destroy herself attempting to kill his murderer. So she wallows in her grief and hesitantly contemplates bad revenge plans, one after another, all of which end in her death. She knows she can't do it on her own.

And then she just gets bored. Victoria has been a part of a coven for over fifty years and suddenly there is no one. She's lonely and grieving and Kenny is sort of an accident. As much as biting a human and not draining them can be an accident. He's a bit too pretty, even as a human, but at least it's something to look at. He can never be James; never be anything other than entertainment and annoyance all wrapped up together, but it does relieve the boredom. Kenny is willing to follow her around like a little lost puppy; happy to lick at her heels and take whatever she gives him. And he never complains about listening to her rant and rave about the Cullens day in and day out, even if he can't comprehend why she's so pissed off.

Two months after Kenny first wakes up to his new life, bitching about being thirsty – he's graduated from mindless bloody massacre of a homeless man by the docks at least to the ability not to wear his food – Victoria is restless once more and decides that she needs to get out of Seattle and away from Forks. She needs space and time and a good idea that won't get her as dead as James.

And Kenny, unsurprisingly, has never even left the state before. Once he gets through the first few months of newborn _bloodbloodblood_ , Victoria discovers that he's not half interesting. He's not as smart as James, but he'll do. He wants to taste his way across America and Victoria agrees, with barely a moment of hesitation, to let him do just that. Constantly moving is the best thing for them. She's not stupid enough to think the Cullens will just give up. She saw the scars on the blond southern one. He's fought the war and won and if the human child is as important as they all made her out to be, Victoria knows they'll be hunting for her. But America is large and mostly anonymous, and two vampires who move through towns and cities at night don't even make the most obscure news reports.

They reach the east coast in November, just north of the border between Virginia and North Carolina. Kenny spends a long time staring out at the Atlantic from the dockyards in Norfolk until Victoria finally gets bored enough to ask him what he's thinking about.

'Can we go across?' he asks, sounding like a child for the first time since the insane newborn thirst wore off.

'To what? Africa? Europe? Asia? We can go anywhere we want, Kenny.'

'I want to go. There are all those people over there. No one will miss them. We can feast for days and no one will care.'

Victoria stands next to him, looking out across the ocean, and smiles. 'That's not a half bad idea. Let's find a ship.'

They could swim, but that long in salt water without anything to feed on except shark is not her idea of luxury travel. They hop a container ship two days later instead. Victoria knows the minute they break away from the dock that she's leaving behind a red flag. Short of feeding from the limited ship's crew – they've got days to go before they reach land – she and Kenny have gorged themselves on whoever they could find. At least one of the bodies, when it's discovered floating in the harbour, will probably make the news. The Cullens, hopefully, will have no idea it's her.

It turns out the cargo carrier is headed for Lagos on the African coast. Victoria keeps Kenny confined to a tight corner near the bow, well hidden between the containers and well away from anything with a heartbeat. They find a way to entertain themselves for the week. He's not James, but he is a nice distraction.

She didn't really stop to think about how sunny Africa was. They come in to port in the already deafening city of Lagos an hour after dawn. The sky is bright blue and Victoria is hungry again. This time, it isn't Kenny who's chomping at the bit to go and he has to spend the better part of the day trying to stop her from taking a bite from one of the docks crew. When the sun sets, Victoria is annoyed at herself and happy to agree with Kenny's plan to use the cover of darkness to run as far north-east as they can. There are villages by the millions here, and a human here or there will be written off as an animal attack. If they can get far enough into the interior of Africa, away from the coastal cities, it's possible even an entire village won't be missed. The thought makes her smile.

Africa is so different from America. Even the smallest outlaying downs in the rural areas of the central States are not nearly as remote as the majority of this continent. By morning they have passed through the densely populated areas near the ocean and are well on their way towards the dessert. In Nigeria (though Victoria has no idea that that's where they are), they have a better chance of finding food. It doesn't take long. Despite the fact that they are both hungry again, the ingrained need to be careful still preys on the mind. They steal a villager here or there, mostly while they're out collecting water or hunting. They rip the body to pieces and make it look like lions or whatever else passes for the head carnivores in these parts.

Two weeks later they stand on the edge of the end of the world. Victoria has seen many places since she took up with James and Laurent. She has seen the wide desert areas of the southern States, but _that_ is nothing against this landscape.

Kenny starts laughing uncontrollably.

'What the hell is so funny?' she demands, but he's laughing so hard he can't even answer her. Annoyed, Victoria wanders away, leaving him to his humour. They'll have to go around, probably to the west, and follow the coast line up to the Mediterranean. But after just two weeks she's already heartily bored of the sand, the sun and the heat that doesn't physically bother her. The sand, especially. And the fact that Kenny is having far too much fun.

'Oh, come on,' he finally says, coming to stand beside her. 'This is freaking Africa! What's your problem?'

Victoria annoys him, because she isn't quite sure what her problem actually is. 'How about that village?' she asks instead.

Kenny's red eyes glow.

They find a suitable target two days later, on the border of Mali. There can't be more than two dozen people, nearly half of which are children and won't make a great meal; skin and bones and probably diseased as they look. Still, that means the village is less likely to be missed, but Victoria has stopped caring. She hates Africa, hates the people and their taste, hates the weather and just wants back to civilization – such as it is for nomadic vampires. At Kenny's urging they attack in the early morning, and for a few minutes Victoria enjoys the chase, the attack, the _blood_ , like James taught her to. But there are measly few people and it is soon over. Kenny proceeds to clean up, by which he means chucking the bodies in the huts and setting them on fire. If someone does come looking, it's unlikely the locals will know what happened.

'That was fun, right?' he asks as they leave, heading further west back towards the sea.

Victoria remains stonily silent. It wasn't exactly 'fun', but for a brief while it felt like it used to when she and her coven would hunt. She felt the thrill of power and control and the indescribable feeling of gorging herself on a human's essence. And now, already, she wants to feel that again.

It doesn't take much urging on Kenny's part after that. They hit three more villages over the months that follow before they reach the coast again, in Morocco, and return to the cities. Here, it is the tourists that prove the best hunting, a skill for which Kenny seems to have become adept, though not nearly like James had been. He enjoys the chase and finally the kill and Victoria enjoys watching him.

After a few days surrounded by bustling crowds and things worthwhile stealing Victoria begins to come back from the brink of insanity and to realise what they've done. But it's the news report showing in a bar where Kenny has decided to start his hunt one night that brings the point home. Victoria doesn't need to understand the language to get the gist of it. The video shows pictures of the decimation; the first two villages had been destroyed by fire, but the last one they'd hit, just the week before, hadn't burned as much as they had hoped. The massacred bodies were too obvious, even in the grainy images.

Kenny is in the corner, talking up two American backpackers and probably contemplating how to get both of them out into an alley so he and Victoria can have dinner. Victoria doesn't care one bit about dinner now, though. They have much, _much_ bigger problems. If the villages have already made the news in Morocco, the reports will spread and this is the sort of publicity vampires can't have. It may be unexplainable to the humans, but any vampire that has been around for more than a decade will know the truth. And Victoria is old enough to know this will mean trouble.

And old enough to fear their discovery by the Volturi.

**Chapter 1**

 

It was March, the middle of Bella's last semester of High School. She walked up the sidewalk to her house with care, as the snow of a few days before had melted down to icy patches. She hated ice.

Stopping to collect the mail from the box beside the door, Bella froze. For the last few weeks there had been an unusual number of letters with her name on them; nearly an equal number of acceptances and rejections from various schools around the country. Bella had mostly ignored them all, since nothing had yet arrived from Vermont and that was the only school she cared about.

But this one was different. This one was clearly an acceptance, judging by the size of the package, and the name in the top left corner was one she recognised with a sinking feel of dread.

'Bella?' Edward asked. He'd been following behind her up to the porch to make certain she didn't slip and fall on the ice. She'd completely forgotten he was there and his voice startled her so much that she dropped the small pile of bills, letters and the acceptance.

Edward caught them before they hit the ice strewn cement. When Bella glanced up at him he was smiling in a way that explained why he'd been so secretive all day – more so than usual at least – and why Alice had been grinning more than usual too.

'How long have you known?' Bella ground out; teeth clenched.

Edward smiled in a very honest way. 'Alice only told me this morning.' There was a distinct pause before he continued, 'but I think she's known about a week, since the Registry Office mailed it.' Bella's look sharpened and Edward had to spare a brief moment of sympathy for his sister, who was going to get a talking to tomorrow from an itty bitty and very angry human.

'And yours?'

'At the house. All three of them.'

'Gah!' Bella exclaimed and jammed her key into the door with more force than was strictly necessary. She pushed the door in so hard it slammed against the back wall. Edward winced as she stomped into the house. 'This was all a set up! I should never have let you even send that application in! _Of course_ this was going to happen! Well, fine. It's what you all wanted. You'll be happy at Dartmouth.'

Edward read between the lines with unusual ease. 'Vermont hasn't come in yet,' he reminded her and immediately regretted it.

'Well it _will_! And I'm _going_. And it's closer to the house _anyways_!' Bella stopped short, realising she'd been yelling unconscionably loud, considering the situation. 'I'm sorry. I just hate it that my life is all planned out by you.'

'It's not, Bella. I had no idea – Alice had no idea – if you would be accepted. The rest of us wanted to go and I _want_ to go to the same university as you. I can't bear the thought of being apart all day every day.'

Her looked had softened somewhat. 'Either do I. You haven't got Vermont yet either?'

Edward smiled. 'No. It'll be in tomorrow; for both of us,' he went on.

That calmed Bella down more than anything else. 'Then we can go there?'

'If you truly want to attend Vermont, Bella, I'd be happy to go there with you.'

Her eyes narrowed. 'But you'd really rather I went to Dartmouth, right?'

He couldn't even pretend to lie to her. 'You were accepted, Bella. I think you would like Dartmouth, if you gave it a chance.'

She sighed deeply, and he knew she'd reached her limit of being mad at him. 'I'll think about it.'

'That's all I ask. And on a slightly happier topic, this means we can plan that trip out to the house. We're just in time for Spring Break.'

Bella huffed as she finally pulled her jacket off and tossed it on the clothes hook, ignoring the fact that it missed and Edward caught it for her, before plodding into the kitchen to dump her bag. 'Totally planned,' she whispered under her breath, well aware that he could hear her.

He grinned, following her into the kitchen. 'Maybe a bit. But it is planned by the schools and not us. I can't control when an acceptance comes in.'

'So when are we leaving?'

'Saturday morning at ten.'

'And is Alice packing for me?'

Edward didn't bother answering the question. They both knew it was rhetorical.

Bella took a deep breath and then let it out slowly, her body finally relaxing from the annoyance of a few minutes before. 'Right; is everyone coming?'

'Carlisle has to work this weekend, but he'll fly out for a couple of days next week. But otherwise, yes. And Rose and Emmett will join us for a few days as well.'

Bella hesitated. 'How are they doing?'

The two had taken off for New York almost as soon as they returned from Hawaii at the beginning of January. They'd been back briefly in February for a few days to visit, but Edward knew they were enjoying having a place to themselves for a while. 'They're enjoying New York,' he finally said. 'But I think they're both looking forward to some time together with the whole family as well.'

Bella didn't look convinced. She and Rosalie still weren't on the best of terms, though Rose was at least civil after the Christmas trip. A week in constant company in sunny Hawaii was enough to soften even the blonde's mood.

'It'll be nice to see Emmett,' she decided.

'It will be nice to be together, the whole family, in our new house,' Edward expounded. He reached for her and Bella came willingly, cuddling into his cold arms.

'Our house,' she whispered into his shoulder; but he could hear the smile in her voice.

Edward kissed her hair gently, smiling himself. 'Why don't you come over after school tomorrow and we can discuss things. I'm certain Alice will have it well in hand by then, but the point is that we _all_ have input. Maybe you and Esme can talk about what you'd like to help with?'  
'Was she serious about wanting my decorating input? Because I really have no idea about any of that stuff.'

'You don't need to. But Esme would like the help. I have to say, despite Alice's design obsession, she prefers clothes. Esme's the decorator. It might be something the two of you could do together,' Edward reasoned.

'That would be nice. I mean, spending time with Esme.'

'She'd like that too. And you can certainly decorate our bedroom,' Edward went on.

Bella froze. Slowly, she turned her head to look at him. 'I can?'

'Well, I'm not going to do it. I don't decorate,' he stated matter-of-factly, looking like such a statement affronted his manly sensibilities.

Bella laughed, shoving him away playfully. 'I doubt that. There's nothing you _can't_ do.'

Edward arched an eye. 'That almost sounds like a challenge. I'll have to ask Alice for help,' he decided. 'There must be _something_ I'm not good at, at least!'

Bella snorted. 'Right,' she said, and set about making herself a cup of tea. It was bloody cold outside for March and being pressed against Edward's cold body hadn't helped. The last thing she needed was to catch a cold or something and be miserable the entire trip to Vermont. Edward leaned against the back wall and watched her, as he often did. She didn't understand what he found so fascinating, but he obviously enjoyed it, considering how often he engaged in the activity.

When she had her tea made, he followed her into the living room. Bella grabbed a blanket and made herself comfortable on the sofa, half leaning against Edward's chest.

'I'm thinking blues,' she announced suddenly.

'I'm sorry?' Edward blinked unnecessarily at her, obviously confused.

'For _our room,_ silly,' she said; tongue firmly in cheek.

'Ah, right. Blue is nice. Dark blues, though.'

'Not baby blue?'

'Definitely not!'

'I was thinking dark blues and chocolate or dark wood. And maybe cream walls,' Bella went on, trying to picture it in her head. She really had no idea about interior design, but it sounded like it would work.

'I like it,' he agreed. 'The colours are rich, but elegant. Actually, that was the colour scheme in Esme and Carlisle's room at the house in Alaska.'

Bella was surprised by that. 'Really? Dark blue and brown? I don't see it.'

Edward snorted softly. 'Well, it was mostly Carlisle's choice. Esme got so busy with the rest of the house that she told him he could pick out their room.'

'Learned her lesson, did she?'

'Quite. Dark colours like that don't suit Esme at all. Even Carlisle hated it after a while.'

Bella pondered that a moment. 'Their room here suits them. The beige and golds.'

'It does. But I think dark blue and chocolate will suit us. And I'm sure Esme has some pictures of the room in Alaska around, so you can take a look. It might give you some ideas,' he went on.

Being careful to test the tea's temperature first, Bella took a sip of the hot liquid. 'This might actually be fun,' she admitted. 'And at worst, it gets us out of Forks for a week.'

'How true,' Edward agreed.

 

**Chapter 2**

 

They arrived in Vermont three days later. Alice had, of course, booked First Class for the five of them; a fact for which Bella was growing accustomed, even if she still groused about it.

There was a rental car waiting at the airport; a large SUV instead of one of the usual Cullen type sports cars. It almost looked like the type of thing a normal family would drive, if they needed the space. Edward took the wheel, which meant Bella automatically got shot gun. Esme, though she drove when necessary, had never really come to enjoy being behind the wheel of a car. Bella already knew this about her and thought it was a bit funny, especially when Carlisle had regaled her with the tale of trying to teach his wife to drive in 1922. Esme was about the only one in the family who didn't have a car obsession. It was probably one of the reasons that Bella liked her so much.

Edward hadn't lied. The house lay barely half an hour south of the city, at least with a Cullen at the wheel. As they drove out of the airport, Edward promised to return and show her the Vermont campus later in the week, since Bella had been denied that visit due to being stuck in a hospital with broken ribs in November. He said so with a slightly long suffering tone of voice, which clearly meant that he was doing it only to make her happy and he would much rather Bella just accept Dartmouth and be done with it.

The area they drove into, south of the city, was heavily treed with winding country roads leading off from the main highway. After a while, Edward turned down one, marked with a string of numbers, rather than a name. Bella had never really understood the penchant for numbering, instead of naming, roads in North America. Names were much easier to remember than digits and cardinal directions. It was not a long way down the road before Edward brought the SUV to a stop on the gravel shoulder.

'We're here?' Bella asked, surprised. But then it had only been thirty minutes.

'Well, it's another two miles down the driveway, but this is the entrance,' he replied.

Esme had already hopped out of the back to survey the property entrance. It was as nondescript as the highway turn off to the Cullen's house back in Forks. But there was a signpost standing on the right side, back near the trees. It lacked a sign, however.

'We'll have to have something made. Perhaps we should name the house?' Esme suggested. 'We've not done that in years!'

'Yes,' Alice agreed, climbing out of the car too. 'I don't think putting a sign out here that says 'Cullen' is a good idea, but we should have a name for the place. People do that all the time around here. We can think about it this week.'

'Don't you already know?' Bella wondered aloud.

Alice smiled cheekily. 'I don't know _everything_ , Bella! And besides, no one's made the decision yet. There are quite a few options.'

'We'll find something that's just perfect and that everyone likes,' Esme butted in; the mediator as always. 'Now, I want to see the house!' she told Edward.

Smiling, he climbed back into the driver's seat. 'Bella, why don't you let Esme up front for the last bit,' he asked, though Bella had already had the thought herself. She climbed into the back with Alice and Jasper, letter their pseudo mother sit up front.

It was a winding drive through the forest, much like in Forks, but the trees were certainly different. The constant rain in Washington State left moss growing on everything and created an almost rainforest type look to the woods. Here, the underbrush was much dryer and the tree branches started higher from the ground. As such, the forest on either side looked more open and welcoming. They finally took a sharp corner and emerged into a cleared area. It wasn't as big as the meadow of the house in Forks, but it could be considered expansive. The house looked the same as the picture Bella had seen at Christmas, though she couldn't really remember it in exact detail. It did, however, look even bigger.

The SUV stopped in front, on a paved circular drive and they all got out.

'Oh, Edward,' Esme was the first to speak. 'The pictures don't do it justice. It's absolutely _perfect_ ,' she said and reached over to hug her son.

'It seemed to be, when I found it. I didn't even need to ask Alice for help,' he explained, with a wink at his sister. 'Oh, you'll need this,' he said, stopping his mother as she started towards the front door. Esme turned around to find him holding out a key.

'Thank you,' she laughed, and with the air of a child, bounded across the drive to the door and unlocked it.

Edward wrapped an arm around Bella's waist as they followed Alice and Jasper to the entrance. 'I've not seen her this happy about a house since we found the place in Forks.'

'But that was only a few years ago,' Bella reminded him.

Edward's sudden look was indescribable. 'Actually, we purchased the house in Washington about a decade ago. We usually purchase houses ahead of time. We bought that one before we moved to Alaska and Esme spent some time renovating it while we were there. No one in Forks knew, of course; it's not exactly on the main street.'

Bella had no response to that, so instead she moved on to an exclamation of surprise as they passed through the front door. 'Wow,' she said.

Edward laughed. 'It's different,' he admitted.

It really was. The house had an aristocratic feel to it and the front entranceway didn't disappoint. A large two story area was filled on one side by a dark wood staircase. Above them, from the ceiling, hung an antique looking chandelier. To the far right, an archway led to what looked like a formal sitting room, and a similar one on the left led to a presumed dining room. Ahead and to the left, a smaller entryway disappeared down a hall, probably to the kitchen area. Above, the stairs ending a wood railing that ran nearly entirely around the front entrance, stopping only when it reached the very front wall of the house. Off it, Bella could see doors, but the most impressive one was the double carved wood doors at the very top of the stairs.

'It's a wow,' Bella corrected him, not at all ashamed that she was staring. Alice and Esme seemed to have similar facial expressions.

'Shall we explore?' he asked, offering a hand.

Smiling, Bella took his cold grip in her own and dragged him to the right towards the sitting room first. There was no furniture, of course, but the walls were still decorated, quite tastefully, if a bit old fashioned even for her senses. Esme would probably want to modernise the place. The sitting room was extremely traditional, with very elegant style wallpaper in blue and white on the upper half of the walls. There was what looked to be an original fireplace on the far wall, however, which Bella took an instant liking to.

Bella could hear Alice and Jasper above; they must have taken the stairs, and Esme was probably doing her own exploring. Indeed, she and Edward ran into her in the kitchen behind the sitting room. It was a beautiful and very open space, quite recently redone, but clearly dating to the old days when it was the servants who cooked and not the house owners. A wood door led to a herb garden and a wide lawn that ended in the forest.

'This is really beautiful, Esme,' Bella told the vampire, who was exploring the separate pantry.

'Isn't it? Edward chose very well. This reminds me of the houses when I was young. Carlisle is going to adore it!'

Bella smiled at that. She had an inkling that Carlisle had never not adored a single house they had lived in, as long as it had Esme's presence in it.

They wandered down the side hall to where the dining room should be, and Bella noticed the door that led in at the back. 'For servants?' she asked Edward.

'Yes.'

'Will we use it as a dining room?'

He smirked. 'Well, _you_ have to eat. We'll put a table in, for appearances sake, but I expect you'll spend most of your time eating in the kitchen.'

'Yes please,' Bella agreed and turned to draw her vampire upstairs.

The double doors were now open, leading into an opulently decorated, and completely overdone, master suite. 'Guess this will be the first room that gets decorated,' she decided.

'Quite,' Edward agreed, trying to ignore the forest green walls and gold detailing.

They found Jasper and Alice in the room on the right. The walls were done in heavy gilded wallpaper that Alice was already hard at work to remove, with only her fingers for help. She'd managed half a wall already. Jasper was standing there regarding her with a bemused expression.

'She hates it,' he told them unnecessarily.

'It's a crime to interior design!' Alice whined, ripping through a large swatch of gold floral print. She was angrier than Bella had ever seen her.

'We'll...leave you to that,' Edward decided, with a pitying look at his brother.

Jasper sighed deeply.

'I think that means the room across the hall is ours,' Edward turned to Bella.

It was slightly less criminally decorated then the other room, but only slightly. Bella could see her chosen colours of blue and chocolates working well here. There were three large windows that let in a lot of light, two of which faced over the garage annex.

She frowned.

'What's wrong?' Edward immediately asked.

'It's just that I see a problem.'

He quirked an eyebrow. 'Well, yes, there _are_ only three rooms.'

There was a long pause before Bella blushed. 'Um, that's not actually what I meant. God, don't tell Rosalie I forgot about them.'

With a laugh Edward came to stand at her side by one of the windows. 'Then what's the problem?'

'It's awfully small,' she said, gesturing to the white building outside.

'You're worried that the garage is small?' he asked in disbelief.

'Well, I wouldn't want you arguing over who gets to park inside!' she said, indignation for not being taken seriously in her voice.

'Oh, Bella,' Edward said, ignoring her annoyance. 'We are planning to build a larger garage over there, by the tree line.' He pointed further away from the house. 'We'll have to clear a bit of the forest, but if it's out of sight, so much the better. Emmett and Rosalie will have a suite in the upstairs. That way, they don't have to bother the rest of us.'

'That's a good plan,' Bella agreed. 'A very good plan. It's a very nice house, but now that I see it, I don't think it's as big as the one in Forks.'

'Actually, it's about the same size. We'll add to it, though. Esme already wants a sunroom off the kitchen and there's free space over the garage here that Carlisle can have for an office. There's a back stair from the kitchen to it. He might find it a bit quieter there. And we can build the other garage as big as we need, with workshop space for anyone who wants it.'

Bella attuned her ears across the hall to hear Alice still ripping at the walls. 'Yeah, the garage is a good idea,' she reiterated.

Edward snorted softly into her hair. 'So, do you think this can be home?'

It was a long moment before she turned in his arms to look at him. 'Yes, I think it can. I think it already is. Home is where you are,' she told him.

'How can I love you more and more every single day?' Edward asked in wonder.

'I don't know,' Bella admitted. Edward looked concerned for a passing second before she smirked. 'Maybe we should ask Carlisle if there's something wrong with you. I thought vampires couldn't change,' she teased.

'I suppose I'm an oddity then,' he agreed.

'Well, you're _my_ oddity. And since I'm a bit bonkers myself, I think we make a pretty good pair.'

'Mad as hatters,' he laughed.

'At least!' Alice called from across the hall, her figure framed in the opposing doorway. 'Stark raving mad is more like it!'

'Love you too!' Bella called across to her.

'Children!' Esme's crystal clear voice rang out from the floor below. 'You aren't five, so kindly stop acting like it!'

Bella buried her face in her boyfriend's chest and laughed.

 

**Chapter 3**

 

Bella was used to Alice waking her up with her bouncing personality at all hours of the morning in order to go shopping. The surprise the next morning was that it was Esme knocking on the door at eight o'clock and not her pixie daughter.

Bella moaned, burrowing herself further under the covers and into Edward.

'You knew this would happen. Besides, Jasper's already gone off to the hardware store for some things. Once he's back, you and Esme can have the car for the day,' Edward explained as he attempted to disentangle himself from his human's arms.

'Lucky us,' Bella mumbled into the pillow, finally letting Edward go.

Laughing, he went to open the hotel room door for his mother. 'Morning Esme,' he told her.

'Good morning to you both. Jasper will be back soon Alice says. She wants to leave immediately.'

'Of course she does.'

'Where are _you_ going today?' Bella asked, finally lifting her head from the bed.

Edward settled himself on the edge of it. 'There's wallpaper that needs stripping before we can paint and Alice is rather desperate to get that done before Rosalie sees the previous owner's decorating style.' Bella giggled back into her pillow. 'And Jasper and I need to get started on plans for the garage. We can all meet at the house this evening; Rose and Emmett will be here by then.'

'Alright,' Bella admitted, slowly climbing out of bed. 'I'm up.'

'I'll order you room service, but then I have to go. Jasper just returned,' he explained at Bella's questioning look.

'Okay.'

'I will see you tonight,' he promised her, leaning over to kiss her quickly. 'Try not to get in any trouble?'

'With Esme?' Bella asked in disbelief.

Edward's look didn't change.

'Okay, I'll try,' she relented.

'Thank you. Good luck in your shopping endeavours,' he told Esme, just as Bella disappeared into the bathroom, not at all happy that Edward would be gone for the day.

He was gone when Bella emerged again. There was also an outfit waiting on the bed. Alice had clearly been in to 'dress the Barbie', despite her itching desire to annihilate wallpaper. With a sigh, Bella got changed, because she had long since stopped arguing about Alice's penchant for designer clothes, at least when they didn't involve a dress. Esme gave her a motherly look of sympathy, which made her feel a bit better; but only a bit. Alice apparently felt that her mother was able to dress herself.

Breakfast arrived just as Bella was finishing drying her hair. The heap of pancakes was a welcome surprise and she dug in eagerly. At least if she had to spend the day shopping, she'd be fortified for it.

'So where to first?' Bella asked, in between mouthfuls.

Esme immediately brightened, clearly in her element. 'I spent last night drawing up a layout for the house. The children will take care of preparing the walls by the end of today and the wood floor is in remarkable good condition,' she beamed. 'The previous owners must have restored it. I thought we could choose the colours schemes today and perhaps try a few antique stores. And I need to investigate companies that build conservatories; it's already March and they are probably booking up quickly!'

Bella smiled. It was not often she saw Esme this excited about something. It was the way Alice got over clothes or Rosalie over cars. 'Sounds good,' she agreed, quickly finishing off the rest of breakfast.

March in Vermont wasn't exactly warm and Alice had provided a thick wool coat, not so dissimilar from the one Bella had worn in November that fateful day at Dartmouth. She tried not to think about it, ignoring the imagined twinge in her ribs that the thought engendered. Bundling up in cashmere scarf and gloves, Bella announced she was ready to get on with the day.

'Would you like to drive, dear?' Esme asked, holding out the keys to the SUV.

Bella didn't especially, but since she didn't _mind_ either, she readily agreed. 'Just tell me where to go.'

Clearly Esme had already been at the yellow pages, and probably interrogated the front desk too. She seemed to know exactly where they were going. The paint store was the first stop; a very high end one by the looks of it which came with its own personal decorator to assist customers, as if Esme needed one. Bella wandered around the shop as Esme launched into a conversation with the woman – Mirabelle, honestly – and decided she would take the time to choose the colours for her and Edward's room. Bella had shopped for paint before; Renee _loved_ to decorate, but the sheer number of choices for 'dark blue' was a little overwhelming. She finally narrowed it down to three options after an hour of browsing.

'Have you made a decision, sweetheart?' Esme's voice startled her some time later.

'Oh, well, I guess. Maybe you could choose?' Bella held up the samples.

'That one,' Esme said, immediately pointing to the one, admittedly, that Bella had been leaning towards. 'Edward will adore it,' she explained with a smile.

'Okay,' Bella agreed.

Taking the sample, Esme returned to her conversation with Mirabelle, which thankfully didn't last much longer. 'Right,' she said, returning to meet Bella at the door. 'That's all sorted now and we can pick the order up in the morning. The walls, at least, will be done by the end of tomorrow!'

Comments like that still caught Bella off guard.

'I think we'll try that sunroom place next,' Esme explained, leading her back to the car. 'It will be open by now, and it looked the best option I could find. I do hope they aren't already booked.'

Bella had no doubt that, even if they were, somehow Esme would get what she wanted and _when_ she wanted it. The Cullens tended to achieve things like that without really trying.

Investigating sunrooms took the rest of the morning, but when they finally went searching for lunch – which ended up being McDonald's – Esme had, indeed, gotten exactly what she wanted. The addition would be _huge_ , but Bella had to admit that a climate controlled, glass enclosure off the kitchen might become her favourite place.

Bella had never been in an antique store. It was not the sort of thing Renee liked and so the afternoon was something of an adventure. Edward called her at two o'clock to see how things were. Apparently Alice was almost done with the walls, and Jasper was busy filling holes and preparing them for painting. Bella happily explained their successful morning as Esme's browsed through a _warehouse_ full of old furniture.

'You're bored, aren't you?' Edward finally asked.

'A bit,' Bella admitted, whispering so that Esme wouldn't hear. 'But it's okay. It's still better than shopping with Alice.'

'I doubt Esme will be more than a few hours now, but it will be nice to have furniture in the place, right?'

Bella had to agree with that. 'Alright, I'll go help. I think she wants me to anyways. I'll see you later.'

'I love you,' he said, as he always did at the end of a phone call.

'Love you too,' Bella told him.

Esme _was_ another few hours, and another few antique stores, but by the end of the day they had acquired a beautiful dining set that would look gorgeous with the dark blue walls that Esme had chosen, not so dissimilar from the colour of Bella's new room. They also found a kitchen table that Bella liked, since she'd be the one using it most. And Bella found The Bed. The moment she laid eyes on it she knew Edward would love it. It was a deep rich wood with four posts, but no canopy and a beautiful scroll work carved headboard. It also came with matching side tables and a dresser, so the room was almost complete. Bella knew it would be left to the others to choose their own furniture, but Esme hadn't found the perfect set for her and Carlisle yet. Though she was starting to lean towards keeping the bed from the house in Forks.

'We do love it,' she admitted to Bella and then leaned in to whisper 'and we've had it for longer than any other.'

Bella decided that was _too_ much information and blushed scarlet. Esme laughed.

'This summer I'll take you to the storerooms in New York and you and Edward can pick out the artwork for your room.'

'Storerooms?' Bella asked, confused.

'We've acquired a great many possessions over the decades, or centuries for Carlisle. Though our favourite things are in the house in Forks, some of which will come with us, there are many other pieces in storage. I think you'll find some things that will suit the room. And I know there are a few paintings I want in the dining room,' Esme went on, clearly already imagining it in her head.

Bella just nodded.

Blessedly, the arrival of Rose and Emmett that night didn't have much effect on things. They were content to keep to themselves, busy planning their rooms above the new garage and getting started on construction. Edward had, of course, already arranged the building permits ahead of time. Alice, Jasper and Esme managed to get the house painted in a day, while Bella wandered from room to room marvelling at the speed and the colours. Once her and Edward's room was finished, Bella had to admit she'd chosen well. It did look beautiful, and once the bed was delivered at the end of the week it would look even better. Esme suggested they shop for bedding on Thursday, before Carlisle arrived and Bella readily agreed, so long as Edward came.

By the end of the week the house was already half finished, the rooms already filling up with furniture and the kitchen with necessary items to prepare food for a human. Bella didn't understand why they didn't just bring everything from Forks, but she knew better than to ask. And at least she got to pick things out for herself, which was actually an enjoyable type of shopping.

Carlisle was more than a little impressed when he arrived Thursday evening, driving up in a rented BMW. Esme beamed as she showed her husband the house and all the work they'd done. The new garage already had a foundation laid and the walls were going up. It would take another trip to finish it, but with Rose and Emmett in New York now, they could probably accomplish it themselves, since it was mostly for their use anyways.

All in all, the week turned out quite well. Bella had thoroughly enjoyed the week in Hawaii over New Years because it afforded her uninterrupted time with her favourite family. Though this week had been considerably busier, it was still amazing to feel so included in what was obviously a Cullen family tradition every few years. The house already felt like home to her.

Bedding in place and their room – almost – complete, Edward and Bella spent Friday night at the house with the rest, who continued work on the garage outside or in the yard, trying to be quiet so as to allow Bella her sleep. By morning the place looked even better and Bella was almost sad to leave it.

'Just a few months and we'll be here to stay,' Edward reminded her as they prepared to leave Saturday morning.

'I can't wait,' she told him, completely serious.

'Have you given anymore thought to schools?' Edward ventured.

Bella sighed. 'Not really.' His face fell. 'What I mean is, that there's not much point thinking about it, is there? I mean, I'd be stupid not to go to Dartmouth after getting accepted.'

Edward's entire face lit up and he had her in his arms in a split second, spinning her around so much it made Bella dizzy.

'So, you're happy?' she asked, unnecessarily.

'Extraordinarily,' he agreed and kissed her.

 

**Chapter 4**

 

They swim to Gibraltar shortly after Victoria sees the news. It is the first decision that Victoria makes on her own since they left Washington State the spring before. There is absolutely no way the Volturi will not find out about their destructive trail in Africa, which means that they need to be long gone before anyone comes looking for information. Victoria has high hopes that they won't look for her right under their very noses.

From Gibraltar, they travel around the coast into Italy, in not great rush now that they are on the Continent. Kenny doesn't understand why Victoria is constantly on edge or why she is being extra selective about their food sources. She explained the Volturi to him – out of a sense of self-preservation; she won't be charged with turning a new vampire and failing to pass on the rules – but he cannot comprehend why their rulers are to be feared. He's never seen the destruction the Volturi can wreck, nor has Victoria, but the stories of their strength go back so many decades now that even to Victoria they seemed somewhat elaborated from Laurent's mouth. To Kenny they aren't much more than Grimm fairy tales to scare the newbie. Victoria, however, knows better.

They are safer now in the big cities and Florence provides a pleasant distraction for a short while. Pleasant enough that Victoria lets her guard down just enough to start thinking about something other than spending eternity avoiding the Volturi at all cost.

It has been months since she gave thought of revenge and to the cold calculation of ending the Cullen clan forever for what they have done to her own coven. Now, the thoughts begin to take shape once more. At first, they are nothing more than a distraction from the other thoughts of 'run, hide, flee' that have plagued her since Africa. Slowly, they evolve into something more. She has known from the beginning that there is no way to attack the Cullens without help. Short of building her own army to raze them to the ground, an act that would engender the retribution of the Volturi more than a few villages on the edge of the Sahara, she needs another source of power.

The idea comes to her late one night. Kenny lies beside her, staring into space and thinking about who knows what. Victoria couldn't care less. The idea is so sudden and so amazingly perfect that it strikes her as speechless as a vampire can be. She goes absolutely still and even that is enough to break Kenny out of his daydreams.

'What's wrong?' he asks.

Victoria smiles for the first time in weeks. Kenny physically recoils.

'What the hell?' he exclaims, sitting up abruptly and letting the blankets that cover their naked bodies slide to the floor of the bed they've appropriated. The villa is abandoned anyways.

'We're going to Volterra,' she tells him.

'Uh, no we're not. You said that would be bad. The whole going near the Volturi thing. I like my head,' he whines, five years old again.

'Shut up,' she screams, pushing him so hard he falls to the floor with a loud thud. 'They're not going to think it was us if we show up on their doorstep. No one's that stupid.'

'But we are...going to show up on their doorstep. So we are that stupid,' Kenny repeats, picking himself up like any other hen pecked boyfriend.

'But we're going to give them something they want. We'll give them something so good they won't care about Africa,' she says, eyes shining blood red at the thought.

'What's that?' he asks, wrapping the blanket around his waist, loath to return to bed in case she pushes him out of it again.

Victoria sighs, annoyed. 'Come here,' she demands. Kenny comes. She pulls him into her arms and kisses him like the world is ending. Or just beginning. He's still horribly confused.

'What do we have to give them?'

' _The Cullens_ ,' she breathes out, so quiet a human would not be able to hear a foot away. 'The Cullens and their _human_ pet.' She giggles then, the sound completely at odds with the sheer vindictiveness of her voice.

'They want that?'

'No human can know our secret. That's our law. They've broken it. The Volturi will want to know. Even if they won't kill them all, they'll do away with Edward who told her the truth. That's all I want.'

It's not, really. She wants them all dead, but she can hope that if the Volturi go after the coven, they'll destroy them all for harbouring a human. And living such blatantly human lives in public.

'They'll have no choice but to uphold the law. They can't not,' she smiles.

'If you say so,' Kenny relents, since he's hardly going to argue with his maker.

'I do say so. Now, make it good,' she commands him and Kenny is more than willing to obey. He knows he won't take the place of her mate, but he enjoys trying to please her.

\--------------------------

It is half a day's run to Volterra. The next day is sunny, however, and Victoria chafes at the thought of being confined and having to wait. Kenny even fails to distract her and she spends the sunlight hours pacing the decaying walls of the villa, planning. He leaves her to it.

When the sun sets, they run. Making the hill city by dawn is easy; finding a way inside is harder. Victoria did not know what to expect of the castle of their rulers. The city looks like every other hillside town in Tuscany and it takes an hour of exploring before someone notices their presence in the early morning hours.

'What do you seek?' a voice demands from the dark recesses of an alley. The figure is clocked in black, cowl pulled low to hide the face.

'I seek the Volturi. I have news for their ears,' Victoria tells the figure, drawing all of her determination and conviction into her voice.

'And what might that be, pray tell?' the figure laughs, emerging into the half light of the moon above. The cowl lowers to reveal a man in his thirties, though how old he actually is is another matter. Victoria would bet centuries.

'I'm not telling _you_ ,' she counters. Only the rulers.'

He appraises them a moment longer and then inclines his head. 'Very well, if that is your wish,' he says, in a voice that clearly states 'if that is your death wish'.

Victoria begins to regret her decision. He leads them down the alley and through a door, down a dark stone staircase and into underground tunnels. A few moments’ walk and the centuries' old stone walls lead to something more civilized and then turn to marble. There is a city underground. Victoria hates the fact that this surprises her. Kenny, meanwhile, stares in awe. She should have left him in Florence, but somehow his presence is a comfort. If they kill her for this, at least he dies with her. It gives her some moment of pleasure at the thought.

Ahead, their guard knocks slowly on a heavy metal door, embossed with designs. A low voice from inside bids them enter. Hesitantly, Victoria and Kenny follow the cloaked figure into an elaborate throne room. There are figures around the edges of the circular room, most regarding them with little interest. On the three thrones sit vampires very different from each other. Victoria never heard much about what the Volturi look like, but they certainly exude power and age. Almost trembling, Victoria comes to a stop behind their guard in the centre of the space.

There is no way she and Kenny are leaving there alive. Or as alive as they currently are.

'What have you brought for us tonight, Demetri?' the central figure asks, the most ancient seeming of them all, skin as translucent as gossamer and hair black as night.

'They seek an audience,' Demetri says, clearly bored with his duty.

'Well then, let them speak,' the figure commands. His eyes turn to Victoria and bore into a soul she has long since stopped believing she possesses. 'What audience would you have?'

'Masters,' she starts, hateful of how weak her voice sounds to hear own ears. She takes a step forward, leaving Kenny to fend for himself behind her. 'I have news for you.'

'Then speak of it. I am Aro. Caius,' he gestures to his let and then to his right. 'Marcus. We are the Volturi.'

'I am Victoria.' She doesn't bother to introduce the annoyance behind her. 'From the US.'

'You are nomads?' Aro inquires.

'Yes. But I came here to tell you about those that aren't. In Washington State there's a coven of vampires, seven of them,' she goes on. On the throne, the blond one Caius, sits up straight. 'They have a human...pet,' she spits the word. 'One of them says he loves her. My mate,' Victoria goes on, slightly chocked over the word, 'wanted the girl, but they refused to give her over. The one that _loves_ her killed my mate, to save his pitiful human.' The hatred is evident in her voice. Caius sits even straighter. 'She knows all about vampires, but she's still human. They won't turn her, I heard them talking about it. They all go around pretending they're human. One of them even works in town! At the _hospital_!' she scoffs. 'He pretends he's a doctor, but I'm sure it's just to get blood or victims for the others. And...' she starts to finish and then thinks better of it. They'll think she's crazy for this.

'And?' Aro asks; voice no different than before. He is the epitome of calm.

In one quick rush she finishes with, 'their eyes are gold.'

 _That_ catches Aro's attention. He takes a full step forward at the same time Caius hisses. Marcus hasn't moved since Victoria first laid eyes on him.

'The leader of this...coven; his name?' Aro asks.

'Cullen. Carlisle Cullen,' she says.

'Ha!' Aro exclaims, a smile gracing his face. It's terrifying to behold, even for fellow vampires. He claps excitedly. 'My old friend!'

Victoria's non-beating heart plummets.

'What has he done now? An entire coven you say?' Aro asks.

Victoria can only nod.

'I am surprised. He has found others and turned them to his ways. Still, that alone would go unpunished, for the love I bare him,' Aro explains.

'But not for harbouring a human,' Caius interrupts, speaking for the first time.

Aro's eyes cloud. 'No; not for that. That cannot go unpunished, at least for this coven member that destroyed your mate,' he tells Victoria.

 _Finally_ , she thinks. 'What will you do?' she ventures to ask.

'Demetri, Felix,' Aro calls to two of his guards. 'You will seek more information; I want the truth of this matter before we act. Where exactly is dear Carlisle specifically?' he asks Victoria.

'They live north of a town called Forks. The – _children_ \- go to school there.'

'Remarkable,' Aro whispers to himself. 'Go,' he tells his two guards. They disappear in an instant. 'You have travelled far to bring me this news,' he wonders aloud. 'Why I wonder? Justice for your mate?'

'Yes,' Victoria agrees eagerly. 'I can't fight seven of them.'

'No indeed; not even animal drinkers.'

'What?' Victoria asks.

'Did you not realise, my dear that that is what makes their eyes gold? They drink only animal blood. It is human blood that keeps our eyes red.'

Stunned, she shakes her head.

'What, seriously?' Kenny exclaims from behind her. Victoria winces.

'Ignore him. He is young to this life; he doesn't know better.'

'Clearly,' Aro relents, and does just that. 'Will you come and take my hand,' he offers Victoria.

Hesitantly she reached out to touch him. The next seconds are silent and Victoria doesn't know what's happening.

'Ah,' Aro says, finally releasing her. 'Yes, that cannot go unpunished. Nor can your transgression,' he says to Kenny.

'What?' he asks, taking a full step back in confusion.

'Though a village in Africa will not be missed, we do not publicise ourselves. That crime is no less than the Cullens'. I am afraid, new one, you must pay for it.' The briefest motion of Aro's head and another black dressed guard is behind Kenny. A brief moment later, Kenny's head is on the floor.

Victoria doesn't even blink.

'Perhaps that will be your lesson as well?' Aro asks her. 'Make no such mistake again,' he cautions.

'I won't,' she promises him and afterwards makes certain he can't see her smile in relief.

 

**Chapter 5**

 

At first, Bella didn't notice that anything was wrong. Emmett and Rosalie had returned to Washington with them and so it felt almost like the previous fall when the family had last been all together in the white house. Before they had left the east coast, the Cullens had hunted while in Vermont, taking the opportunity to explore the local wildlife. Only Edward had refused to go and instead he had gone when they returned to Forks. He might have noticed that something was wrong, had he not been in such a rush to get back to Bella the night after they returned from Burlington.

But he was in his usual hurry and it was more than two weeks before any of the Cullens got a whiff that something wasn't quite right around town. It was another week though before Bella heard anything about it, as per usual.

One afternoon in mid-April, forced into playing 'Bella Barbie' by Alice and not at all happy about it, she happened to catch Jasper and Carlisle in a hushed conversation in the downstairs hall during one of her usual escape attempts to hide behind Edward. Since they were having the conversation in the house, no matter how quietly, Bella knew that whatever it was the rest of the family was aware. Immediately annoyed that Edward was keeping secrets again, she laid into him in the middle of his piano solo.

'You're going to stop right now and tell me what's wrong.'

He did stop, but only to stare pleasantly at her.

' _Now_ , Edward. Remember that talk about keeping secrets that we had?' Of course he did. 'Jasper's upset about something and I haven't seen Carlisle that worried since...well, the last time I injured myself, so _share_.'

Hands on hips she refused to move until he told her the truth.

Trying not to smile, Edward sighed in defeat. 'Alright; I was going to tell you soon anyways, but we are rather lacking in information right now. Come sit,' he said and drew her down onto the piano bench beside him.

'When Emmett and Jasper were out hunting last week they came across a scent in the woods west of here that they didn't recognise.'

Heart rate already up, Bella gasped 'more nomads?'

But Edward was already shaking his head. 'No, it wasn't a vampire. This was something else. Jasper says he's never smelled anything quite like it, but Emmett thought he recognised the scent.'

'So, what is it?' she pushed.

'I told you that we'd been here before, about seventy years ago?'

'Yeah, you said...no, wait,' she stopped herself, trying hard to remember. 'That day I talked to Jacob on the beach, he said the Elders believed you'd moved back. That the tribe had met you before. There was some kind of treaty...' she trailed off, noticing the intense look on Edward's face.

He nodded slowly. 'Yes. We were here in the late thirties, after Rose and Emmett joined us. We met the Quileutes then. They were...not something we'd ever encountered before. We were here nearly a year before we ran into them. They told us the legend of – '

Bella knew the answer already. 'The Cold Ones. They knew what you were, because they'd encountered vampires before. Yes, I remember the story.'

'There was more to it,' Edward pushed.

'Jacob said...the tribe was descended from wolves. They could shape shift...they destroyed the Cold Ones that way. That's how the Elders in the thirties knew what you were.'

'Yes,' Edward nodded, certain that she had almost figured it out.

'Are you saying that they're wolves again? That the tribes can shape shift?'

Edward shook his head slowly, giving a deep sigh. 'Not all of them, but at least a few. Once Emmett recognised the scent they followed it; the tracks suggest at least two wolves, if not more. Carlisle is concerned that the tribe is phasing again; that's the second time it's happened while we've been living nearby. He's worried it's not a coincidence.'

Bella tried to make sense of what he was telling her. Vampires had come easily to her, but werewolves were a bit harder to take. 'What about the treaty?'

'To us, it still stands, but to them...Now that we know Carlisle will need to meet with the Elders. It's likely we'll need to sign a new treaty.'

'You hope,' Bella put in, reading between the lines.

'Yes, we hope. I'm afraid your presence might complicate things.'

She blinked, confused. 'Why? I mean, I'm not one of the tribe.'

'But your father is good friends with Billy Black, who you've known since childhood. You told me last year that Black had been giving you warnings. His son came to prom,' Edward went on.

'You're saying they won't sign the treaty because they're worried about me?' Bella exclaimed, standing up and starting to pace. 'That's stupid! I'm not one of them; they don't get to decide things for me.'

Edward had her in his arms in a second. 'Calm down,' he cautioned. 'We don't know what may happen, so please calm down.'

'What does Alice think?' she whispered into his chest.

There was a very long pause until she finally drew back to look at him. 'Edward?'

'Alice can't see. Her visions are...blank. Every time she tries to look she can't see anything. The wolves, apparently, block her.'

'So she doesn't know what's going to happen?'

He shook his head.

'Wow, that's bad,' Bella sighed.

'It's not ideal, I will admit. We will meet with the Elders, on neutral territory and go from there. If what we believe is true, that there are only a few that have phased, then we outnumber them enough to be safe.'

'For now,' she muttered, not at all happy with the situation. 'Just one more thing to worry about. God, Charlie's down on the res every weekend with Harry and Billy! Is he safe?'

'In the last treaty, the Quileutes swore to protect the town. I would imagine that would extend even further to your father, considering his association with them. It would probably extend to you as well, if...'

'If I wasn't dating a vampire,' she finished for him. 'This is really out there you know.'

Edward snorted in disbelief. 'More than vampires?'

'Maybe,' Bella smiled.

'There's nothing we can do right now, but I would like you to promise to stay out of the woods and off the reservation, for now.'

'I haven't been down there in ages, so that's not a problem. And me, go wandering alone in the woods? Like _that's_ ever going to happen.'

'I thought not,' he smiled. 'We _will_ handle this.'

She gave him a hard look. 'And do you promise to stop keeping secrets?'

'Yes,' he admitted reluctantly.

'Okay,' Bella immediately brightened and leaned up to kiss him. 'What about my dad?'

Edward drew her back to the piano bench. 'I don't think you need to worry. The number of times he's visited the reservation and he obviously hasn't seen anything would imply the wolves are staying out of sight. I'm certain he's heard the old legends at one time or another, but there is no reason for him to think they are anything more than that: legends.'

'Good, because we really need to keep Charlie out of this.'

'One of the many things on my list,' Edward agreed.

Bella let her head fall down onto his shoulder as he resumed playing her lullaby. 'For now, we watch and wait and maybe Alice will figure out a way around the block.'

'Of course she will,' Bella said. 'She can see us anyways, right? She'll know if something happens in the future.'

Edward didn't answer her, so Bella figured she was right in her assumptions. She closed her eyes, listening to the music flow through the keys as the rain beat against the window.

 

**Chapter 6**

**AN: I've made two assumptions for this chapter, based on SM's books as well as fanon agreement in general. The first assumption is that Demetri's gift works in a similar way to Edward's, in that he cannot track a mind that he has never 'read' at least once before. The second assumption is that Alice's gift works in such a way – especially when you put in the wolves – that she can't actually see all futures at all times and some don't manifest until people make a decision regarding certain things.**

**And a completely made up assumption that hard rain would wash away a human's scent and hopefully a vampire's too, but that the concentration of wolves on the res would remain unaffected because of the 'stench' involved.**

**I've also made Author's assumptions. The first is that, when I rewrote the James affair in East of Albuquerque, I had James much less dependent on Victoria. Also, they interact a lot less. Victoria doesn't know about Alice's link with James, or her gift (or Edward's). She never got near the Cullen property, so she only has a vague idea where it is, from the scents she caught. Also, Rose and Esme kept her away from Bella's house, so although she knows where it is, she never got close enough to pick up Charlie's scent and only has Bella's from the baseball field.**

________________________________________

Alice was so busy trying to see the wolves, she missed the advanced guard. Afterwards, no one would blame her for the slip, but it didn't stop her from blaming herself.

Though Carlisle sent word to the reservation – specifically to Billy Black and the Elders – the Cullens heard no word from the tribe in return. Billy even refused to talk to Bella when she attempted to call him and even Charlie was willing to acknowledge that his drinking buddy had been acting a little weird and that he hadn't seen sign of Jacob for weeks.

April passed into May and Bella was entirely too concerned with the end of senior year to really give that last part much thought. The wolves would have to meet with the Cullens sooner or later, Edward assured her, but for now he and the others were being careful to hunt to the east and away from tribe land. No reason to rile the Quileutes more than they obviously were, they all decided.

Occupied with school and the big move to Vermont in July, it was a quiet Friday night in early May before any of them realised that the wolves were the least of their problems.

Jasper and Emmett were in the corner playing chess, while Rosalie half watched them and half pretended to read a magazine. Edward was at the piano and Bella had curled up in the chair nearby, content to watch him instead of read _Hamlet_ , their last assigned literary work for the school year. Carlisle was still at work and Esme was upstairs with Alice working on something to do with the house.

Bella didn't hear it when it happened, but she was instantly aware that the four vampires near her froze all at once.

'What?' she asked Edward, who was paused with his hands on the keys, not even breathing. 'What's wrong?'

No one answered her. Suddenly, Jasper vanished, and Bella realised that something must have happened to Alice upstairs.

Emmett and Rosalie seemed to come back to themselves too. 'Edward, what's she seen?' Rose asked her brother.

Edward's eyes were still distant, locked onto whatever vision he had read in Alice's mind. 'I don't...How could she have missed this?'

'Missed _what_?' Rosalie hissed.

Edward's eyes were guarded when he looked at her. 'They've sent a guard.'

There was a very long pause at that statement.

'The wolves?' Emmett ventured, in a voice that said he knew otherwise, but was really, really hoping he was wrong.

Edward shot the big vampire a less than polite look, one that would normally have earned words from Rose, but she was obviously too horror stricken to comment.

' _Why_?' was her next question, so low that Bella thought maybe she'd heard it wrong.

Alice and Jasper appeared in the doorway then with Esme a step behind, in a rushed conversation with someone – probably Carlisle – on the phone.

'I can't...I can't _see_ ,' Alice whined, collapsing onto the sofa. 'I've been so focused on the wolves I didn't even notice! How could I not notice?'

'Just explain, in very simple words, what the hell is going on,' Rosalie butted in one more time.

Alice gave her sister a completely unreadable look and Jasper glowered beside her. 'There's two of the guard; they'll be here tomorrow.'

'Seriously?' Emmett cut in until everyone else in the room, even Bella, gave him a look that said 'shut up'.

Alice went on as if he hadn't interrupted. 'I don't know why they were sent. I didn't see. They have their orders already.'

'Look further ahead, Alice; are the rest of them coming?'

Bella was getting more and more anxious trying to figure out what was going on. 'Edward,' she all but whined, heart near to pounding in anxiety. For the first time ever, Edward ignored her completely. That only made the anxious feeling worse.

Alice's face went blank for a few minutes and then returned more worried than before. In fact, she looked down right terrified. 'They're coming!'

'What, all of them?' Both Jasper and Rose asked at the same time.

Alice nodded her head. 'The guard and the Volturi themselves. I see them here right after graduation. Yes,' she caulked her head to the side, 'yes, only a day or two after grad.'

Bella didn't understand much of what was happening, but she understood _Volturi_ well enough. 'Edward?' she tried again, panicked.

'Why are they coming Alice? Why now, after all this time? Does Aro miss Carlisle?' Rose started firing questions at her sisters, the last of which earned a glare from Esme. She ignored her mother.

'It's not good,' Alice admitted. 'I see – wait – the red head by Aro,' she said, face blank again.

'Victoria!' Edward exclaimed so loudly that Bella fell off the chair she had been sitting on the edge of.

Five voices together this time shouted 'what?' loud enough it could probably be heard from the highway.

'I see her with Aro. She must have gone to them. She hates what we did to James so much she went to the Volturi for help in destroying us.'

'Alice,' Jasper said, voice surprisingly calm, even as everyone else grew more alarmed at this news. 'They need a reason. We had every right to destroy her mate. Why are they coming here?'

Alice turned terrified eyes on her husband and whispered barely loud enough for Bella to hear: 'she told them about Bella.'

Every eye in the room swivelled to the human on the floor.

'No,' Edward ground out sharply. 'She's one human and she's...Bella's my mate. They can't hold us guilty for breaking the law!'

'They do,' Alice defended, knowing Edward could see the truth in her head.

'No,' he said again and finally acknowledged that his alleged mate was curled into a ball on the floor having an anxiety attack. He had Bella in his arms instantly, encasing her so tightly she would probably be bruised the next day. Bella didn't seem to care.

The front door slammed opened just then and Carlisle appeared in the room. 'What has happened?' he asked the room at large.

Esme rushed right into his arms and they had a very rapid conversation in hushed tones. By the end of it, Carlisle's face was even whiter than normal, if it was possible, and he was shaking his head in an attempt at disbelief.

'I cannot believe that Aro would be drawn in by that woman.'

'Well, he has been,' Rosalie stated, somewhat scathingly and once again ignored the look Esme shot her. 'So we better figure out what the hell we're going to do about it.'

'Run away?' Emmett said, though he was clearly joking in a very real sense.

'They Volturi have a very able tracker. There is no where that we could run,' Carlisle reasoned.

'Demetri,' Alice whispered.

'You saw him?' Jasper asked.

'He and another will be here tomorrow.'

'Running is definitely out then. Can Aro be reasoned with?' he asked their leader.

Carlisle's eyes were pained. 'At one time, I might have believed so, but they give no quarter to law breakers. If I have any understanding of them, it will not be Aro who leads this mission, but the other, Caius. We have never been on amiable terms,' he went on and Edward snorted. Carlisle gave his eldest son an unhappy look. 'Yes, perhaps that was too polite a way to state our relationship, or lack thereof. Still, Caius is the strictest when it comes to the law; he will not be reasoned with once his decision is made. I saw many try in the years I lived with them; none ever succeeded.'

'So, we really shouldn't be here when they come then, right?' Emmett asked again, a bit more serious this time.

'Running, as Carlisle said, would gain us no ground. There is no hiding from Demetri once he becomes aware of us. They would find us sooner rather than later. No, we must find another way. Alice, have they determined a number to send yet?' Edward asked; half his attention devoted to a vain attempt to calm Bella down. She was now shaking in his arms, too overcome by the whole situation to do more than listen, panicked.

'Not yet,' Alice replied. 'Not until their advanced guard returns. I'll keep close watch now, I promise,' she said, clearly still very upset that she hadn't seen anything earlier.

'Alice, with their tracker on the hunt, I'm not certain knowing before now would have made a difference.'

'It would have given us more time,' Jasper groused, but immediately softened when Alice gave a small cry in guilt. 'I'm sorry. You're right, it would not have helped. What would we have done? What will we do?' the strategist asked.

Bella was calming down a bit now. The shaking slowed to a stop and she managed to find the presence of mind to lift her head out of Edward's shoulder. 'They're coming for me?' she asked quietly.

'No, Bella,' Edward said, stroking her hair. 'They are coming for us; you are simply the excuse.'

'Because I'm human?'

'No; because you know about us.'

'And I'm human,' she repeated, pushing away from his protective embrace and struggling to stand. Edward rose with her, one hand out as she swayed dizzily. She ignored the help though and gasped in a deep breath, forcing her body to calm down. 'Humans can't know what you are,' Bella stated. 'What if I'm not human when they get here?'

'Great idea Bells,' Emmett boomed too loudly.

'The tracker will be here tomorrow; that's hardly enough time,' Rosalie disagreed.

'But before the Volturi come? If they get here and I'm a vampire, then they can't say the law's broken, right? At least not anymore. We can say you were just waiting to change me until graduation, so that people didn't wonder why I disappeared and ask questions. Trying to keep a low profile, right?' Bella went on, anxious once more at the look on Edward's face.

'No,' he finally hissed. 'Turning you is not the answer.'

'But we agreed,' she went on to remind him.

'Yes, but not like this. Not because of _them_.'

'Does it matter why? I _want_ this, Edward. I know you do too! Why not now? We can fake my death, just like you told me last year. And I'll be strong! Maybe the Volturi won't want to fight me.'

Emmett was the only one that laughed at that comment.

'We must give this all careful consideration,' Carlisle finally decided; the calm voice of reason once more. 'Nothing can be done before the guard arrive tomorrow. I am doubtful they will attempt to make contact, and we should not attempt to approach them. It would be better they do not know we are aware of them. For now, it is best they remain ignorant of our gifts,' he explained.

'Aro covets what he cannot have,' Alice whispered.

'Yes,' her father answered the unspoken question just as quietly. In the stillness of the room though, it carried enough for Bella to hear.

'We stay near the house tomorrow, agreed?' their leader asked.

'Agreed,' they echoed.

'We will discuss this further after the guard have left. Bella, I believe it might be best if you were to return to your father's house for the weekend.'

'I'm not leaving her unprotected!' Edward exclaimed, half standing up.

'The instant the guard see the two of you together, their belief will be confirmed. We must cast whatever doubt we can into Aro's mind,' his father reasoned.

Edward clearly thought otherwise. 'Her scent is all over this place.'

'Yes. Alice?' Carlisle asked.

'Um, I don't know. A heavy bleaching of everything might work and definitely dump Edward's bed linens somewhere, in case they come into the house. It's supposed to rain heavily tonight, so that will help too. I don't think the tracker will be able to find her without her scent as a guide. If she can block Edward maybe...'

'Maybe she'll block Demetri's gift too. It's similar, in many ways,' Carlisle picked up Alice's train of thought.

'Exactly,' she agreed. 'If there's no connection between Bella and us, he'd be left blind, I think. Aro might have had an image from Victoria's mind, but he can't have passed that on to his guards. Unless she gave him the address...' Alice trailed off, still searching. 'I don't know,' she finally decided. 'But Bella should home go now, alone. Charlie's going down to the beach tomorrow to join Billy,' she went on. 'I just looked and he's disappeared. Maybe you should go with him Bella. The guard won't follow you there; not with the wolves stench and they might not even pick up your scent at all that way.'

'There's an idea,' Jasper agreed. 'It is possible the smell of the wolves will distract them. I doubt the Volturi have encountered shape shifters like these. If they venture onto the tribe's land to investigate, will the wolves defend themselves?'

'Yes,' Carlisle spoke up. 'It is there sole reason to exist. They will see any vampire on their land as a threat. There are at least two wolves that we know about; perhaps more. It might well be an even match.'

'We can hope it will be better than that.'

'No, we don't,' Alice put in. All eyes swivelled to her. 'The last thing we want is to give the Volturi another reason to come here. And what about the wolves? They'd be outnumber even worse than us. We can't do that to the tribe.'

'It's a good point. Carlisle, you _must_ contact the tribe before tomorrow. They cannot allow themselves to be seen by the guard.'

'Yes, I agree. I'll go to the border tonight if I must. Alice is correct; such a thing would bring the Volturi down upon us without mercy,' he reasoned, one arm still tightly wrapped around his wife. Esme seemed to upset to even form words, content to let the others decide.

'Will it work?' Edward asked.

Alice shrugged. 'With the wolves...I can't tell. I don't see the guard coming into the house here, which is good. They don't want us to know of their presence. If we hadn't been warned, they would have arrived tomorrow to find Bella here. Or worse; you and Bella at the meadow alone. My way is better.'

'Fine,' Edward agreed, though it was obvious he was loath to.

Bella leaned into him. 'I should go then.'

'Yes. You keep your cell on you at all times this weekend, understood? If you think anything is wrong, _call me_. Or any of us,' he implored her.

'I will,' she promised, leaning up to kiss him. 'If _you_ promise to stay safe and call me if anything happens?'

Edward managed a small smile at that. 'I promise. Be safe,' he said and let her go.

'Good luck?' Bella hedged to the rest of them.

Alice smiled surprisingly brightly. 'Thank you!'

'Right,' Bella sighed and left them to the conversation she knew they needed to have. She just hoped that Edward would remember his recent promise and fill her in later on the details. Contemplating Alice's idea about bleach, Bella headed home to wash her own bed linens and try to air her room out of Edward's sent. Hopefully the rain would do the rest.

Bella knew as well as the Cullens did, however, that none of their security measures would make a difference.

 

**Chapter 7**

 

Charlie was clearly surprised, but also thrilled when Bella asked if she could go with him to the res on Saturday. He planned to leave early, but since Edward had been unable to spend the night at the house and Bella had been up half of it doing loads of laundry anyways, she was awake when Charlie knocked on the door at six.

It was still raining fairly heavily, and Bella really hoped that was a good sign. She was clearly agitated and Charlie noticed.

'Everything alright Bells? You came home pretty early yesterday.'

'Hum?' she asked, distracted. 'Oh, yeah, there was a thing; some problem with their cousins,' she lied with surprising ease. 'I didn't want to be in the way.'

'Well, guess they're allowed family troubles too. Is that why you're coming today?'

Bella shrugged. 'Thought I'd give Edward a couple of days to...deal with things. And I haven't been out to visit Billy in ages.'

'No,' her father agreed, 'you haven't.'

There was, of course, a very good reason for that, and Billy rather proved it the minute Bella piled out of the cruiser.

'Oh, you came too,' were the first words he said to her.

Charlie glared. 'That's no way to greet her, Billy. I know she hasn't been around much, but it's senior year; you know how busy the kids get.'

Billy just frowned, because he and Bella both knew that wasn't the reason. 'Alright,' he huffed. 'Jacob's not around.'

'Dad said,' Bella told him. 'Have you heard anything from him? I mean, he's a bit young to be off on his own, right?'

Billy just shrugged, completely unconcerned. 'He's a big boy; can take care of himself.'

It was Charlie's turn to frown, obviously having a difference of opinion on how one should feel about their missing child. Clearly, he and Billy had had that conversation more than once.

'Well, your Dad and I were just going to watch the TV and get our daily dose of Vitamin R.'

Bella waved her copy of Hamlet. 'I've got reading to do for next week, don't worry. Just didn't want to stay at the house alone.'

Billy raised an eyebrow, but since Charlie was two feet away, decided not to rise the pointed question of why she wasn't spending the weekend with her less than human other half.

Bella settled in with her book in one hand and her cell phone tightly clutched in her other fist, hoping that Edward would call or text or _do something_ to let her know things were alright. Surely Alice must have had a vision by now?

But the day passed with no communication and Bella got exceedingly antsy. Billy kept shooting her annoyed and curious looks alike, but Bella ignored them. They obviously weren't going to have the conversation in front of Charlie.

When the delivered pizza for dinner had been consumed and cleaned up, Charlie decided it was time to head back home. Bella still hadn't heard from Edward, but she didn't want to risk texting him either, in case she caught him at a really bad time. Deciding that Alice hadn't said anything about staying on the res, Bella agreed it was time to head home. That didn't garner a text either, so she hoped that meant it was safe.

The house looked undisturbed when they got back, but Bella gave the place a good once over, just in case. Although she was hardly going to be able to tell if a vampire had been in or not, not without being able to smell them. Finally giving up on call waiting, she climbed into bed to read a bit more. Bella had just made herself comfortable when a breeze through her open window announced Edward's arrival. With a hushed cry she all but threw herself into his arms.

'It's alright,' he assured her. 'They're gone now.'

'What happened?'

'No much,' Edward shrugged. 'They didn't come closer than a mile to the house, although that was close enough I could read their thoughts. It wasn't very helpful, though. They were sent by Aro to gain information and nothing more. They wandered around a bit, obviously trying to pick up a scent, but Alice's plan seems to have worked; they couldn't smell a human.'

Bella gave a sigh of relief. 'So, it's over.'

Edward drew her back to the bed. 'No, I'm afraid not. They didn't stay around for long, and as soon as they caught the scent of the wolves, they departed. Alice had another vision right after they left, of Demetri giving Aro a report. Aro may be content with it, but Caius won't be put off so easily. So far, the vision of them arriving after graduation is still set.'

'You need to change me before then,' Bella stated simply.

Edward pursed his cold lips. 'I...have given it some thought. You may be right. Still, we need to wait until Alice's is certain when they'll arrive.'

'No, Edward. We need to do this and then we need to leave. Can they track us?'

His eyes clouded.

'Oh, you said Demetri was a mile away. That's close enough, right?'

'Yes, and beyond that, he knew Carlisle in Volterra. We can't hide from them now.'

'But if we go away somewhere, at least Forks will be safe, right?'

'Yes. That much we must make certain of, and less for the sake of the town. If the Volturi come here and scent the wolves, they won't leave a single one alive. We must draw them away and soon.'

Bella leaned back against her headboard, resigned. 'We can't wait until graduation,' she said, although it was much less a question than it could have been.

'No,' he agreed.

'So, soon?' she asked.

'Jasper's given it some thought. We should go in the next few weeks. Alaska would be the safest location, partly because there are fewer humans to endanger and also because the Danalis will lend us numbers. The Volturi might be less likely to attack. And Jasper does suggest we go...after you're changed,' Edward finished, his voice nearly a whisper.

But Bella wasn't going to let him dwell. 'Then that's what we should do. Edward,' she cupped his cheek, 'I _want_ this.'

'I know,' he whispered. 'I know. And now we have no choice.'

 

'I don't need one,' Bella whispered back.  
\--------------------------

Monday changed things. It was clear that the two guard had boarded a plane right back to Italy, considering how quickly Alice's vision came. It was similar to the one she had had Saturday night, but Bella's decision seemed to have thrown a kink in the works.

'It won't work,' Alice explained that evening, as they all sat around the dining table.

'Why not?'

'Aro saw in Demetri's mind about the wolves' stench. Caius instantly suspected it was werewolves. No matter what laws we may have broken, Caius cannot suffer a single Child of the Moon to live.'

'But they _aren't_ ,' Bella put in.

'It doesn't matter to Caius. The Volturi are coming. They'll be here in a week. Caius won't let this go.'

'Are they still coming for us?' Emmett asked.

Alice shrugged in apology. 'Right now, it could go either way. They aren't stupid; they know we live close enough we had to have smelled them. And if Aro touches any of us, he'll know the truth. Two black marks against us isn't a good thing.'

'If we change Bella, it's only one,' Rosalie added.

But Alice was already shaking her head, even harder than Edward. 'No; it's too late for that. Having a newborn in the mix isn't going to help. There's only one way this is going to end.'

'We fight,' Jasper finished for her.

'No,' Carlisle disagreed. 'I won't have this come to a battle. We cannot fight the entire guard.'

'What about the Denalis; they'd come, right?'

'They already are,' Alice put in. 'Carlisle called them last night.'

'That's thirteen of us. And the wolves aren't just going to roll over and let the vamps kill them, right?' Emmett asked, direct to the point as always.

'I don't think us fighting on separate lines is going to make a difference. Maybe if we band together, but...'

Edward completed Alice's thought for her. 'Every time you think that, we disappear.'

Alice just shrugged. 'The wolves mess everything up.'

'We must talk to the Elders,' Carlisle decided. 'We have no choice now. They did not even appear on Friday. We must go again tonight to the border and wait; as long as it takes. I won't trespass on their land and break the treaty, whether they adhere to it or not. If they view us as a threat, perhaps they will come to us, if only to defend their land and people.'

'I'll go with you,' Edward agreed.

Jasper shook his head. 'We should all go.'

'Agreed,' Carlisle nodded.

Bella wrung her hands together and wished she'd made more effort to talk to Billy on Saturday. Maybe there was something she could have done.

Edward leaned over the grip her hands in his and still them. He gave her an encouraging smile, but she knew it was just an act. Still, Bella managed to smile back.

 

**Chapter 8**

 

'You are _not_ going,' Edward decreed later that evening as the sun began to set.

'Yes I am,' Bella repeated.

'Not a chance. I'm not letting you near those wolves.'

Bella took a deep, steadying breath, trying to find the control to not lose her temper. They'd been at this for ten minutes. Alice was no help, since every time she looked ahead, all of their future's disappeared. There was no way to know if Bella going or not going was a good idea.

And Edward certainly thought it wasn't a good idea.

'I need to be there. Look, they're less likely to attack you if I might be in the way, right? I mean, they're purpose is to protect the humans. I'm a human.'

'That's not logical. You may be human, but you associate with vampires. Do you honestly believe they'll protect you enough to risk your life?'

'Three against seven, Edward? Do you really think they'll attack with those odds?'

He glared at her. 'We don't know if there are only three; that's a guess. They could number as many as us, and _then_ what?'

'I'm going,' she said again.

'Oh, stop arguing,' Rosalie butted in as she walked passed Edward's room. 'If she wants to come, it's her decision. Stop making choices for her.'

Bella was too stunned by the blonde's support to say anything. Edward seemed equally as surprised. 'Rosalie...' he began.

'Oh, shut up, brother,' she huffed and flounced off to her room.

'Yeah, I'm with her,' Emmett said, jerking a thumb after his wife as he too passed the doorway. 'And with Bella,' he went on, giving the human a small smile.

'Thanks,' Bella sighed. 'Edward?'

He glared between his bear of a brother and his girlfriend. ' _Fine_ ,' he ground out, though it was obvious it was only to placate the rest of the family. He hadn't changed his mind.

Bella didn't bother thanking him. She hadn't been asking his permission anyways.  
\---------------------------

Bella gave Charlie the last minute excuse that she and Alice had a history project that they needed to work on. As Charlie was completely unaware that Alice wasn't even _in_ Bella's history class, he agreed with ease and told her in a very fatherly voice not to stay up too late on a week night.

They didn't leave for the border until nearly midnight. Bella had bundled herself up in layers of clothing to escape the cold rain as she clung to Edward's back on the way there. At least it wasn't very far, but they had to run down the river a ways to get close enough to attract the wolves' attention.

The vampires heard their approach first, but after a few minutes Bella was aware of something moving through the trees on the opposite bank and a massive animal stepped into view. It was very nearly pitched black out to Bella's eyes, though Edward had handed her a flashlight. It didn't do much to break up the perpetual darkness of the trees on either side of the water. Still, even its meagre beam was enough to illuminate the thing that arrived. By the sound of it, the first wolf was followed by others, but Bella couldn't make out exactly how many.

Edward stepped forward to the edge of their side of the treaty line. 'We mean no harm,' he stated clearly.

There was a moment's pause and then he sighed. Looking left towards Carlisle he explained in a hushed tone that the wolves didn't believe that for an instant. They wanted to know why the Cullens kept coming to the border.

'Edward?' Carlisle asked softly. His son nodded and the blonde stepped forward instead.

'We need to speak with you. No doubt you are aware that on Saturday some of our kind were here. They were sent by a group of vampires that we considered to be our rulers. They enforce our laws; the highest of which is that no human may know of us.' Here he glanced sideways at Bella and across the river one of the wolves keened. 'They have been told of Bella's presence. Unfortunately, my daughter Alice has had a vision that soon all of them will come. The rulers have a large guard of vampires, that number greater than we. We have no way to fight them.'

'They really don't care,' Edward muttered, disgust in his voice.

'I realise that our survival is of no concern to you,' Carlisle relented. 'But if they come here, they will discover you. I am afraid your scent is powerful enough that even those that were sent as the advance guard are aware. The Volturi have encountered werewolves before; true Children of the Moon, but they will have no care that your tribe is different. It will not stop them from destroying you.' He looked at Edward.

'Their leader, Sam Uley, wants to know how many are coming. The others are hoping for a fight.'

Jasper made a sound of disbelief. 'Stupid children,' he muttered. The wolves bristled at that.

'Alice?' Carlisle turned to her.

'At least a dozen, maybe more; they've haven't entirely decided yet. But they have gifts just like we do and most of them are really powerful. You can't fight that,' she stated simply.

'Sam thinks otherwise,' Edward muttered. 'There are six wolves now, but even with our strength I wouldn't wager on the odds. We might win, but not everyone will survive.' His voice was bleak and very, very worried. Bella stepped closer to him.

Across the river, one of the wolves shifted suddenly and in a second, Edward had put himself between the river and Bella, hissing at the dark shape on the riverbank.

'What has happened?' Carlisle asked; ever the reasonable one.

Slowly Edward relaxed, but he didn't move from his place in front of Bella. Heart racing, she clutched at his shoulder.

Edward sighed. 'Jacob's not too happy about that prospect.'

'Jacob?' Bella whispered. 'He's here?'

'If by here you mean 'gone wolfie',' Emmett joked.

Clearly confused, Bella turned to Edward. 'I don't understand.'

'Jacob has phased. About a month ago now. He's on the far left there, just at the water's edge,' he pointed. In the dark, Bella could just make out a slightly moving mass.

This explained why Jacob hadn't been around lately, but Bella could hardly believe that he was one of _them_ now. One of the creatures that killed vampires. The opposite sides of the riverbank might have been an ocean wide, for the distance between them now.

'Oh Jacob,' Bella muttered. 'I'm sorry.'

'He's not,' Edward snorted. 'He seems to like being a monster, just like the rest of us.'

That didn't exactly help the situation. All the wolves on the other side growled very low, anger clear in their voices.

'Edward,' Carlisle cautioned. To the tribe he continued: 'We have come tonight in peace. You need to be aware of the situation. Alice believes the Volturi will arrive next weekend. They do not come to reason or to listen. We will, of course, attempt to dissuade them from a fight, but there is no guarantee. I fear they will not suffer any of us, even you, to live.'

There was a long silence after that, though the other side was filled with the sounds of large animals moving around.

Edward's voice finally broke the silence. 'They won't let the Volturi harm any humans; Sam says that includes Bella. He wants to know what we have planned.'

'We will avoid a fight at all cost, but if that cannot be done, I would ask you to fight with us.'

Another long growl echoed across the water and the Cullens shifted themselves, worried the fight would start sooner than planned. After a moment, it died off.

'Bella, the light,' Edward whispered, motioning to the flashlight she held. He turned it to the other bank and suddenly Bella realised there was a man standing there in a pair of shorts and not much else. 'Sam Uley,' Edward greeted him with a nod.

'We can't fight twelve,' Sam admitted, though reluctantly. 'If we fight together, that doesn't mean anything. We'll spare you this time, but the old treaty still stands. _All of it_ ,' he hissed out, gazing right at Edward.

'What does that mean?' Bella whispered into his ear.

He ignored her.

'The treaty will stand either way. We have no intention of breaking it,' Carlisle explained.

'Yes you do,' another voice called across the flowing water. Edward shifted the beam to reveal Jacob, also in just a pair of shorts.

'Jacob!' Bella called.

'You have every intention of breaking it, don't you leech?' he directed at Edward.

'Not here. The treaty stands in Forks only.'

'Like hell,' Jacob shouted, before Sam quickly silenced him.

'Our Elders tell us the treaty states that if you bite a human, the treaty is broken. It doesn't say whether you have to be in Forks or not,' the pack leader explained.

Beside Bella, her boyfriend suddenly stiffened. 'She's not _food_ ,' he seethed.

'If you bite her she is!' Jacob called back.

'Enough,' Carlisle and Sam said in the same instant. 'We can discuss the treaty only after we have dealt with the coming threat. The safety of the Quileutes and the people of Forks are more important,' the blonde continued.

Edward relented, but Jacob was still clearly upset about Bella's coming transformation. Bella was annoyed Edward had withheld another piece of information. If her change would cause a war with the tribe, that was something to consider. Beside her, a cold hand squeezed hers.

'Fine,' the pack leader agreed. 'Just tell us where and when.'

'As soon as my daughter knows, I will send word. I thank you.'

'Don't. We aren't doing this for you, as you pointed out. We fight for us,' Sam groused. He moved out of the path of the flashlight and a loud noise signalled that he'd phased again. Slowly, movement on the opposite bank died away until there was only the sound of Bella's quick breathes and still pounding heart.

'That could have gone better,' Alice broke the silence.

'It could have gone worse,' Jasper pointed out. 'It will give us the numbers. Whether the Volturi are fully aware of what they are or not, there will be an element of surprise. That might be all we need.'

'Let us hope,' Carlisle agreed. Esme, who had been silently hidden at the back during the meeting, stepped forward to grasp his hand. 'Let us return to the house.'

Slowly they left in pairs until it was just Bella and Edward. Obviously he knew she wasn't happy.

'Were you going to tell me?'

'About Jacob?'

'No! Yes!'

'I only knew about Jacob when he showed up tonight.'

'About the treaty then,' she countered.

Edward sighed. 'We weren't even certain the treaty was still valid. Since it is, we may have to consider it. I can't change you here, but we'd have to go somewhere else anyways. Alaska, probably.'

Working herself up to angry Bella crossed her arms. 'Got it all planned out, do you?'

'No,' Edward admitted.

'You should have told me. Even if it wasn't valid anymore, you still should have told me.'

'Yes,' he whispered. 'I'm sorry. I keep...I keep getting it wrong, don't I?'

That softened her mood, if only a little. 'Just stop withholding information, however unimportant you think it is,' Bella said, her voice ringing loudly in the still woods. 'And don't make decisions for me.'

He took a hesitant step forward and when she made no move he took another, coming to stand in front of her. 'I should have explained about the treaty when you first learned about the wolves.'

'As long as you realise that. Don't do it again,' she groused, anger dissipating. 'Can we go home? I'm tired of being wet.'

'Gladly,' he agreed and swung her onto his back in a heartbeat.

 

**Chapter 9**

 

Clearly, the Volturi weren't in as great a rush as the Cullens thought. Three days passed before they made their final travel decision of exactly when they would arrive and how many of the guard were coming with them. Alice said they planned to fly into Washington by private jet and make their own way to Forks on Thursday.

Bella thought that was annoyingly inconvenient; she had a math test that day.

'I don't think they care,' Alice told her; the closest to annoyed Bella had ever heard her get. She apologised immediately. 'I'm just on edge. With fifteen of them coming, we only just outnumber them and that's with the wolves!'

'Are they going to fight with us then?'

'Yes,' she said, but immediately backpedalled. 'Well, I think so; since I can't see the battle. It must be because the wolves are there. But it means I can't see _anything_!' she cried out, burying her face in her hands.

Jasper appeared from nowhere to comfort her. 'Her visions keep fading in and out,' he explained to Bella. 'With the tribe involved, we're all but blinded.'

'But we need them,' Bella said.

He nodded, clearly displeased.

'When do the Denalis arrive?'

'Soon,' Edward said, stepping into the living room. He had been out with Carlisle to talk to Sam.

'How did it go?' Bella asked, coming to stand next to him.

With a quick, but clearly not heartfelt smile, he kissed her forehead in greeting. 'They've agreed to be ready, but Sam wants to wait out of sight. Carlisle and I agreed that would be best.'

'It will be the only element of surprise we have. The only thing that stands a chance of tipping the balance with the Volturi,' Jasper agreed.

Bella could read how unconfident they were in that plan. 'And if that doesn't work? What if the Volturi smell them or sense them or something?' Bella asked.

The two male vampires exchanged a bleak look. Alice whined softly into her hands.

Edward snaked an arm suddenly around Bella's waist. 'I don't know,' he admitted aloud.

Bella had never once heard that tone in his voice. It sounded like resignation. Defeat.

Despair.

\-----------------------

Forks, of course, would never know what happened that Thursday. The Volturi were not about to break their own law by feeding from so small a populace and making the national news.

Bella, lacking any brighter ideas and with Alice's vision almost entirely disabled, faked being sick Wednesday night. Thursday morning, when she claimed to be too ill to go to school, Charlie easily believed it. He believed it so much, in fact, that he called the Cullen's house to see if Carlisle was home.

The Cullen patriarch explained, though it had all been arranged for days, that he would be only too happy to come over to the house to check on Bella while Charlie went off to work. He called the Chief shortly after that to tell him that Bella had a fever and though it was probably just a stomach bug, he wanted to take her back to his house for the day to keep an eye on.

Charlie eagerly agreed; more than thankful for Dr. Cullen's kind care of his daughter.

Since this phone call was made in the living room of the Cullen's house with Bella curled up at Edward's side, she had to laugh. Edward managed a smile, but with the looming potential of battle and probably death, it looked rather forced. It also sobered Bella immediately when she saw it. She felt a bit guilty that she was once again deceiving Charlie, and also at how good she was becoming at lying to him.

They planned to meet the Volturi in the field where they played baseball. Alice had managed to get a glimpse of them arriving near sunset, so they decided to spend the whole day out there, allowing Demetri ample chance to track them there and stay out of sight and hearing of the townspeople and off reservation land. Edward brought food and a camp chair for Bella's comfort, but she was too anxious for most of the morning to sit down and too worried to even think about eating. She might not have actually had the flu, but the fear of what was coming left her nauseous.

The Denalis had arrived two days before and Bella had been worried about meeting them. Carmen and Eleazar had quickly put her at ease; they were very similar to Carlisle and Esme in many ways, though many centuries older. Kate had also been quite friendly; Tanya only slightly less so.

Irina had basically ignored her, which was alright with Bella as it meant Laurent stayed away too. It was obvious that being near a human again was a struggle, and yet he was doing pretty well to resist the call of her blood even in the wide open field. His strangely golden eyes were a testament to how much he had changed since splitting from James and Victoria. Laurent had announced to everyone when they arrived that he owed the Cullens for showing him another way and that helping to fight against the Victoria's plans for revenge was the least he could do. Bella thought that was remarkably comforting, but she was staying away from him all the same.

They came through the trees before sundown, when the cloud had drawn in thick but the rain had not yet begun to fall. Alice saw them coming, of course. They moved like there was only air to walk on, black specks detaching themselves from the dark trees of the woods. One, two, three, four...until there were fifteen in total, spread out across the far side of the field in what even Bella knew was fighting formation.

The Cullens and Denalis were ready for them. The addition of six extra members to the group did not even give the Volturi pause. They came forward, moving to within a hundred feet of them; close enough that Bella could make them out clearly in the fading light.

Her heart stuttered in her chest and she caught her breath, knowing every single vampire could hear it. Edward gave her a look from where he stood beside her. There was no fear in his eyes, as there had been for days; only love. She took a deep breath and calmed herself. Behind her in the woods a branch snapped as a wolf paw landed on it. Bella took her strength from that. The Volturi might not yet be able to smell them; the wind was blowing the wrong way.

Carlisle gave Edward a look as he passed him by, stepping forward and away from the group. One figure detached itself from the line of the Volturi; a black cloaked vampire with ink black hair and shinning red eyes. The two stopped less than fifty feet from each other.

'Aro,' Carlisle inclined his head. The wind carried the words away almost immediately, but Bella could just make out the soft voice in which she often took comfort. There was no comfort in it now. Carlisle had made himself clear over the last week; he would not stand for this threat to his family.

'Carlisle, my old friend,' the figure – Aro – spoke. His voice rang clear and cold and Bella flinched. 'It has been too long.'

Carlisle's answer was blown away on the next gust of wind. No doubt the vampires and even the wolves could hear him, but despite the fact that Bella strained her ears, most of what Carlisle said was lost.

But Aro she heard well enough.

'I have had some most disturbing news, my old friend. So disturbing, in fact, that we felt the need to visit you ourselves. I simply cannot believe it to be true.'

This time, she heard the response. 'And what do we stand accused of?'

Aro's eyes went wide, in entirely faked surprise. 'Accused? Not accused! Unless you feel there is something worthy of such accusation?'

Carlisle half turned his head around to look at Edward for the briefest moment. Something must have exchanged between them, but Bella didn't know what.

'You will find my patience is wanting, Aro. I know well that we have been accused of breaking the law and I would call our accuser forth. Surely you brought her with you?'

 _That_ clearly surprised Aro. They had hoped that Alice's gift would prove useful, and already it seemed to be so. Bella allowed herself an inward smile. It probably didn't happen very often that the Volturi leader was struck speechless.

After a beat, Aro inclined his head ever so slightly. 'Very well. For you, old friend,' he nodded.

A figure stepped from behind the gathered dark cloaks. The hair was as red as Bella remembered; even brighter now against the drab colours around her. The look on her face was full of spite and misplaced glee. It was clear to everyone that Victoria thought this was her victory. Bella swallowed around the lump of fear in her throat. There was nothing for it now; the Volturi has seen everything in her mind, after all. The Cullens had broken the law and there was only one recourse. And Victoria knew it.

 

**Chapter 10**

 

'Victoria,' Carlisle greeted her; nothing but steel in his voice.

'Cullen. Not so strong now, are you? You brought this on yourselves,' she spat the words.

Against such hatred, Carlisle took the higher road and decided to ignore her venomous tone. 'Of the accusation that we killed her mate: that is valid. That we did so to save a human also will I admit to. You know of the value I place on human life, Aro. I could not stand idly by as James threatened a human. Such enjoyment of the hunt is despicable, even for our kind.'

'Indeed,' Aro agreed. Bella drew in a deep breath, surprised by that. 'Indeed, that sort of pleasure in the kill is too great, even for those of us who prefer the...proper way of living.'

Victoria hissed.

'Enough,' Aro said, turning to her so sharply she took a full step back.

'Indeed, enough of this,' another voice spoke, as cold and clear and old as Aro's. A vampire stepped forward from the group, hair as blonde as Carlisle's. 'We tarry here when there is no need. They do not stand accused of the death of this one's mate,' he glanced at Victoria, clearly uninterested in her issues. 'They stand accused of breaking the law and revealing themselves to humans. And consorting with werewolves!' The blonde, Caius, all but screamed the last word.

Across the field, the guard tensed and the Cullens and Denalis responded. In the forest behind, Bella could pick out the hurried movement of the wolves.

Carlisle's voice was suitably calm when he answered, directing his response only to Aro. 'Of the first accusation, I would clarify that it is only one human and she is my son's mate.'

This obviously raised Aro's surprise. 'Is this so?' he asked; his voice intrigued.

'Yes,' Edward admitted; his voice firm and determined. 'She is my mate and I would not keep secrets from her.'

'Then why do you hesitate? She is still _human_ ,' Caius spat. 'Turn her now and be done with it.'

'The law values secrecy above all else,' Carlisle interrupted. 'As you taught me Aro.'

Clearly this did not impress the Volturi to be reminded of the law. 'It is so,' the black haired leader agreed, reluctantly.

'This is a small community; her disappearance would raise questions. We wait only until Bella finishes school and then we will go far away. At that time, her death will be staged and she will be turned. No questions will be left behind us to raise the curiosity of humans.'

Aro seemed to consider that, though Caius made a disgusted noise.

'On those conditions, of this I would agree,' he finally said.

Disgust turned into rage on his blonde brother's face. 'Aro, you cannot take them at their word! They have harboured a human for _months_!'

'For the sake of secrecy, brother, which we prize above all else: this I would let go.'

Bella let out a sob of relief at that, but beside her Edward did not relax.

'However,' Aro said, red eyes boring directly into Bella's brown ones, 'there is the matter of a much greater accusation. And this one we cannot forget, my friend,' he turned to Carlisle.

'You ally yourself with Children of the Moon, our greatest enemy!' Caius announced for him.

But Carlisle wouldn't budge. 'We ally ourselves with no one other than the Denalis,' he said, turning slightly to nod back towards where Eleazar stood.

'I vouch for this, Aro,' the former guard member spoke.

'And yet, the wolves are right on your doorstep. You mean to tell me you didn't know?' Caius went on, anger growing by the moment. Aro, in contrast, almost looked bored.

Bella wondered where the third member was. Has he stayed in Italy to...rule?

'We have been aware of the presence of the tribe for some time,' Carlisle admitted. A collective gasp of surprise rippled through the Cullen and Denali line. 'Your guard has already smelt them and know they dwell near here.'

'How do you know these things?' Aro wondered aloud, curiosity once more piqued.

'We each of us have our secrets, old friend,' Carlisle said. 'The tribe has been here for many centuries, but they are not what Caius accuses them of. Their form is arbitrary only. Children of the Moon are cursed in their transformation; this tribe is not.'

'Explain,' Aro suggested. Caius looked ready to tear everyone, including his brother, limb from limb.

'There is a legend in their tribe, that centuries ago they were attacked by beings that were not human. To defend the tribe, the chief changed into their clan's totem, a wolf. From that time, the gene has always lain dormant in their blood. Most recently it seems to have activated again. They change freely and remain in control. They are _not Children of the Moon_ ,' Carlisle said, voice so low Bella could barely hear it in the wind.

There was a long silence until Aro slowly held out his hand across the distance that still separated the two vampires.

'Aro!' Caius protested.

'I will see if they tell the truth. For want of old friendship,' he clarified.

Carlisle paced forward without any hesitation, though Edward clearly thought it was a bad idea. He took a full step forward, away from Bella, before Jasper's hissed protest stopped him.

Bella watched, fascinated, as Carlisle took Aro's hand. Nothing seemed to happen. Besides the noise of the wind, there was no other sound for several minutes.

Finally, Aro drew back, though he did not release the hand he held. 'Ah, what strange times we live in.' He glanced sideways at his brother. 'He speaks the truth, Caius. They are not Children of the Moon.'

Caius screamed in anger and lashed out at the nearest thing, which happened to be Victoria. She was in pieces before the shock of it even registered around the field.

Aro gave him a placid expression. 'It seems your accuser is dead,' he told Carlisle. 'And it seems we have come for nothing.'

'No!' Caius said, stepping between them and forcing Carlisle back. 'They have broken the law, no matter their excuses. And they allow these _creatures_ to live! They are a threat to us, no matter if they bear the curse or not! Too long have we stood by in Volterra while others make their own rules. We are the _law_ ,' he screeched.

Aro levelled a look at this brother that was very similar to how Edward looked at Emmett, every time he said something stupid. Thousands of years together had clearly only made it worse. 'Do you propose we fight them then, Caius?'

'Yes!' a high female voice called out from behind. The figure that stepped forward to lower their hood was tiny; smaller even than Alice, with red eyes and blond hair. She could have been Caius' daughter, if such a thing was possible. 'They flaunt our control in our faces, Masters. They consort with humans and werewolves and we should not suffer them to live!'

Aro's eyes were shinning with what Bella thought was humour. 'Thank you Jane, for that insight,' he said, indulgence clear in his voice. 'However, it seems we have a complication. You see, we are almost evenly matched in numbers, but dear Carlisle has shown me something more.'

'What, pray tell, is that?' Caius asked.

Aro smiled. It made Bella's stomach roll. Around her she could hear vampires shifting, clearly put off by it as well. 'We are nearly surrounded by your werewolves!' he explained, almost laughing.

Caius did not laugh. He looked even more enraged, if that was even possible. If Victoria had still been in one piece, he probably would have torn her apart right then. 'So they do ally themselves.'

'No; the wolves seem to be here for their own survival and care nothing for the coven. Strange,' Aro said, head slightly cocked. 'In all my centuries, I have never seen the like. No, Caius; we will not fight.'

 _That_ made an impression. The guard shifted uncomfortably and the little blonde one, Jane, let out an annoyed scream, so high it hurt Bella's ears. The Cullens and Denalis, on the other hand, relaxed ever so slightly.

'You cannot be serious, Aro,' Caius stated, clearly disbelieving.

Carlisle had taken the opportunity afforded by the brothers conversing to take several steps back towards his family.

'I am quite serious, brother. Marcus would agree with me, I am certain. There will be no battle today. However,' Aro started, eyes boring right into Carlisle's across the distance now between them. 'However; you have made promises today that I expect to be kept, as you showed me. Also, these wolves are now your concern. If word should reach us of the destruction of a single vampire at their...paws,' he smirked, 'you will be held accountable. They are your neighbours now, old friend, and your responsibility.'

Carlisle inclined his head. 'Very well.'

'Wonderful!' Aro said, clapping excitedly, suddenly very much an eager child than a millennia old vampire. 'Well, it seems a wasted trip, but it was good to see you, my old friend. And you are welcome in Volterra. Indeed, I insist; when that one,' he pointed towards Bella, 'is ready, we invite you all to attend on us there.'

Though it was clear Carlisle was loath to do so, he nodded. 'As you wish.'

'I do wish,' Aro said, humour now gone from his voice. 'And I do wish you to bring your entire family,' he smiled, no longer polite.

Bella wasn't certain what he meant, but beside her Edward stiffed more than ever, and let a low hiss escape through his teeth. Aro smiled wider, as if in promise.

'Until then,' the Volturi leader said, inclining his head in farewell. 'Come Caius; it has been so long since we left the city and I would enjoy the countryside for a while. Of course, we will refrain from feeding nearby,' he added to Carlisle as they turned away. 'Farewell, friends, for a short while!'

And with that, the black robbed figures dissolved back into the trees until there was only silence in the field. Overhead the clouds opened up and the rain poured down so suddenly it made Bella shriek.

Uncharacteristically, Edward laughed. 'Come on,' he said, pulling her onto his back. 'Let's get back to the house!' And off they ran, the others following behind.

It was only when they reached the dry warmth of the Cullen house and had all piled inside to dry off that the full weight of what had happened sunk in. In seconds Bella was in tears in Edward's arms, cuddled up on the white sofa in their wet clothes. He just held her tightly as she sobbed her relief, whispering 'it's over, you're safe' again and again into her ear as the others looked on.

 

**Chapter 11**

 

The anti-climax was almost worse than open war. That much, Bella had been expecting. Faced with everyone being alive and well, and the Volturi's promise that they would remain so, Bella had no idea how to feel. She finally cried herself out sometime after dinnertime that night, but no amount of cajoling would make her eat. She called Charlie, her voice hoarse from sobbing, and told him that she was going to stay overnight and probably wouldn't be at school on Friday.

Since Bella's voice sounded pained and upset, Charlie agreed instantly and then demanded to speak to Dr. Cullen, because obviously Bella was worse than she was letting on. Once Carlisle had assured the Chief of Police that, no, Bella was simply suffering from a mild case of the flu, but was running a slight fever, Charlie calmed down. At least as much as Charlie ever calmed down where Bella's health and safety were concerned. In any other circumstance Bella would have been amused, but since she had not moved from Edward's cold arms in over an hour – not since Esme had taken her away to the bathroom to change into dry and more comfortable clothes – Charlie was the very last thing on her mind.

Edward had long since given up on comforting platitudes and even Alice's voice had finally fallen silent, since assurances of the state of the future were obviously meaningless. The sheer emotion was just too much.

Bella didn't protest when Edward carried her upstairs to his bedroom some while later, on his father's suggestion. Exhaustion was the only thing that pulled Bella under, still lying safe in his arms.

Friday was a little better. Bella woke to actual Forks sunshine and no more tears.

'I'm sorry,' was the first thing she said when she blinked her dry eyes open to find Edward still watching her.

'For what?' he asked, taken aback.

'For last night.'

'Bella,' he admonished gently, 'there is nothing to apologise for. Yesterday was emotionally overwhelming for all of us. If you hadn't needed to work through your own emotions, Jasper would have been controlling them as much as he was the rest of us.'

'Oh. I...I didn't know that. I just...I couldn't stop crying.'

Edward smiled at her and brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. His hand moved to cup her cheek and she leaned into the cold touch. 'Sometimes, humans need to cry. It often is the best thing for you. Do you feel better this morning?'

'Surprisingly, yes. But I'm glad I don't have to go to school. Class just seems...sort of pointless after yesterday.'

'Quite,' he agreed. 'How do you feel about breakfast?'

'Pretty good,' she admitted.

'I'm glad,' he said. 'I suggest a human moment and then breakfast should be ready for you.' He quickly kissed her and then drew away, easing off the bed. 'Esme went to a bit more effort than usual this morning.'

Bella opened her mouth to protest.

'And you didn't eat dinner last night, remember, so you are going to eat what she's made and enjoy it.'

It was Bella's turn to act surprised. 'I am, am I?'

'Yes, you are,' Edward said, turning his full dazzling ability on her.

Bella's heart stuttered to a stop and then picked up again. 'Um,' she swallowed, 'of course.' Edward left her to it, laughing easily at the slightly dumbfounded look that graced her face.

A few minutes later, still in the PJs Alice had picked for her the night before, but feet in fuzzy slippers and human moments taken care of – mostly teeth and hair brushed – Bella slipped downstairs to find Esme dishing out a plate of homemade blueberry waffles with crispy bacon and a bowl of fresh berries and yogurt. On any other day, Bella would have protested immediately at the sheer amount of food, but due to missed dinner and a night of crying, she was starving enough to take Edward's advice.

He sat with her while she ate. 'You aren't going to school, right?'

'I'm not, since it's nearly nine o'clock. The others left early to hunt, just before the sun broke through the clouds. Normally Alice and I would stay home, but she said it's temporary. They'll be full cloud cover again by lunch. Alice will manage on her own. We can only hope that Charlie does not find out I missed school and wonder why I stayed home with you. However, if he does, at least we can honestly say that Carlisle was here too,' Edward said, nodded as his father entered the room.

'Morning, Carlisle,' Bella managed around a mouthful of fluffy waffle, enjoying it too much to care how impolite a motion it was.

Carlisle gave her a bright smile. 'Good morning, sweetheart. How are you feeling?'

Bella swallowed the mouthful. 'Hungry. And cried out. I'm okay, really; it was just all...'

'Overwhelming?' he finished for her. 'Yes, I agree. I hardly dared to believe that the meeting would end so optimistically.'

Edward flashed him a look that said otherwise.

'What?'

'Nothing, Bella,' he told her.

'No, _what_?' she tried again, putting her fork down to turn fully towards her boyfriend.

'Not all of yesterday's outcomes were what we had hoped for.'

Bella sighed heavily and gave Carlisle a long suffering look. 'This is about my change, right?'

'Of course it is. I did not want your choice given into the hands of the Volturi!' Edward exclaimed.

'Edward,' Carlisle began, but Bella cut him off.

'Edward, you need to listen to me. Screw the Volturi. I've made my decision. I thought you'd made yours. You do want me to join you, right?' There was a slight note of worry in her voice, as there always was when they discussed her future as a vampire. Bella still wasn't entirely convinced that Edward was on board with the idea; in practice, at least.

His look softened. 'Of course I want that. I want you forever, Bella, please believe me. I just don't want the timing left to the Volturi.'

'Well, it is. And we're going to have to deal with that. I don't care. This year or next; what does it _really_ matter? We do it this summer and delay...Dartmouth,' she said, hesitating still over the name. 'If I manage alright, maybe we can go next year. Or never. It doesn't _matter_ to me about university. All I care about is being with you,' Bella implored him, trying to convey one last time everything she felt.

There was a long pause and then she saw it; Edward had finally given in.

'And I with you. Very well. We will forget all about the Volturi. This summer we will go to Alaska and start our lives together. But I'm still hoping for Dartmouth next year.'

Bella laughed lightly, shaking her head. 'We'll talk about it. Next year.'

'Eat, love,' he told her, turning back to Carlisle.

'We should begin organising the move. I'll contact Dartmouth about delaying until next year.'

'Esme will see the house readied. We still have some time to plan for this,' Carlisle said, though it was clear he was referring to more than just moving states.

Edward didn't respond to that and Bella decided she'd already won enough battles for the day and resumed eating. They could talk about that later. There was time enough to plan for her _death._

Bella took an unnecessarily large bite of breakfast and tried to ignore the conversation going on behind her.

 

Surprisingly, it was Sam Uley that asked for a meeting. It had been five days since the Volturi had left. Alice was keeping a sharp eye out, but she had yet to see anything beyond their return to their rule in Volterra. It was not enough to entirely put Edward at ease, but it seemed to be enough for Bella.

They set the meeting for that Friday night and Bella once more used the excuse of a weekend sleepover and shopping trip with Alice. Charlie had given her a sharp look this time when she had asked, perhaps because he was beginning to wonder why she spent so much time at the Cullens. Or rather, at _Edward's_ house. Still, he had let it pass once more, and Bella was too concerned with the meeting that evening to give it much thought. She dutifully completed her homework, made them both dinner, and was ready to go by eight when Alice arrived to pick her up. They went right to the meeting location at the border, some miles outside town.

It was a shock to see the pack in human form. Apparently they must have concluded that the Cullens weren't going to attack them, or Sam had at least seen sense. It certainly made talking easier.

'You requested a meeting, Sam Uley,' Carlisle began.

Sam stepped forward, all seven feet towering even over the blonde vampire. 'We've got some things to discuss. There's the treaty, or the old one. The Elders want a new one written.'

'I believe that would be best, considering the circumstances. I assume there are conditions they wish met?'

Sam growled almost too low for Bella to hear. In fact, if not for Edward's immediate stiffening, she might have thought it was the rising wind in the trees. 'Absolutely not!' Edward shouted; taking a step forward before his father's restraining hand stopped him.

Something passed silently between them before Edward whispered, 'they have issue with Bella's...future life.'

'Or lack of it,' Jacob butted in, anger clear in his voice.

'Jacob,' Sam hissed, ordering the boy back. 'I'll take care of this. We heard what those Volturi said. We know they'll come back to check on you. And if she's still _human_ ,' he spat the word, though Bella didn't think it was that word he had a problem with. 'They won't think twice about attacking. We got that. The Elders believe that your rulers may return to check on _us_ as well, whether you're here or not.'

'It is...likely,' Edward admitted. 'I read Aro's mind. He is not terribly interested in your existence, but he will bow to Caius on this issue. They may well send the guard.'

'Six of us can't fight them all,' Sam admitted, as if it pained him to admit it. Around him, his pack shifted restlessly, just as they did when in wolf form.

'You wish for our help, when they do return.'

The wolf leader inclined his head.

'We agree to offer our support if the Volturi do return here,' Carlisle said easily, sounding as if he had already thought this one through.

'You're leaving Forks, right?'

'Washington, in fact,' the doctor admitted. 'We will leave immediately after graduation. We have a safe place in South America, away from the populace. There, Bella will be changed.'

Jacob managed a very wolf-like howl in his human form, but stopped himself from making a dive at Edward, though he was clearly wishing to do so.

'Jacob!' Sam yelled. 'It must be this way. The treaty will continue as it was, except for two provisions. The first is that you can _bite_ Bella. But she's the _only_ exception.'

Cowed and defeated by his leader, Jacob backed down.

'Look, it's not like we go around biting humans all the time,' Emmett jumped in, annoyance clear in his voice. Rosalie kicked him in the leg.

Sam wisely chose to ignore the comment. 'The second is that, should your Volturi return here, you will provide whatever help you can. If you can get them to leave, that would be good.'

'Indeed,' Carlisle agreed. 'And the rest of the treaty stands?'

'Yes.'

'Then we agree. We will, of course, sign anything you wish if the Elders desire a record – '

'We have our oral histories and so was the last treaty based down to us. It will continue that way.'

Carlisle bowed his head respectfully. 'Of course. I must thank you Sam, for your assistance last week. I do not believe the outcome would have been such if you and your pack were not present.'

'Well, like you said, they'd have come after us when they got done with you. Better to stand together.'

'We are grateful nonetheless.'

'Very grateful,' Esme jumped in, coming to stand beside her husband. 'If not for you I may have lost my family. Thank you, Sam.'

Bella was sure she saw a flicker of amusement cross the Quileute's face. It seemed that Esme Cullen could work her magic on just about anyone, even a shape-shifting werewolf. Beside her, she saw Edward crack a smile, obviously reading Sam's thoughts.

'I will leave word with you of how to contact us, should anything arise,' Carlisle went on. 'Otherwise, we will leave Forks by early July.'

'You won't be coming back anytime soon,' Sam ventured, though it was more intended statement than a question.

The Cullen patriarch shook his head, a bit sadly. 'No, we cannot return to Forks while the current generation of residents still live; particularly those that know Bella. Though my family finds this area closer to a home than anywhere else we have lived. We will be gone for several decades, if not longer.'

'Good,' one of the other men muttered. Jacob shot whoever it was a displeased look, before turning a more longing one on Bella.

'Sorry, Jake,' she mumbled. 'But it has to be this way. I can't come back; not while Charlie's still...alive.'

'Yeah, figures,' he shrugged and seemed unwilling to add more.

Bella did not know what to say to him. This night might well be the last time they ever saw each other, but what could she possibly tell him? She had made her choice and things had fallen into their proper place. There was no changing it and even if, by some miracle, they could stay in Forks for a few years, she and Jacob could never be friends again. Bella would be as good as dead to him - or even worse - after she turned.

Sighing, Bella hunched closer to Edward in the now heavier rain, suddenly tired beyond measure. He wrapped a strong arm around her, the cold making her shiver even more. 'We should get home,' he said to her, though everyone heard.

'The new treaty stands?' Sam asked one last time.

'It stands,' Carlisle said, holding out his hand. With only a brief hesitation, the pack leader stepped forward to shake it, though he let go quickly.

'She's yours to protect now,' Sam said, turning his eyes to Edward.

'I will,' he assured the man.

Sam jerked his head in what was probably a nod, and the pack vanished into the darkened trees. Jacob lingered last, on the edge of the blackness, with a longing look.

'Bye, Jake,' Bella whispered, fighting back tears.

'Bye, Bella,' he called across the distance and then vanished.

'Come on: we need to get you dry,' her boyfriend whispered, bodily turning her back towards the path to the car. In moments they were inside the vehicle with the heat on full blast. Edward took the winding, now pitch-black roads faster than usual, arriving at the Cullen house in a blaze of light only moments later. He led her inside to the warmth, as he had a week before, and sat with her before the already crackling fire.

'I'm sorry,' he whispered, sometime later.

'It's not your fault. It has to be this way.'

'He was your friend.'

'Yes. He still is, at least to me. He always will be. I've known him longer than any of my other friends. I can't forget that,' she admitted, staring into the flames.

'You don't have to. Never. I'll remind you about him every day after your change and then you won't ever forget him.'

She drew back from Edward's arms to look at him. There was no trace of dishonesty on his face. He was telling the truth.

'Thank you.'

There was a long pause while she returned her gaze to the fire. The house was quiet. The others must have left to give the two of them some privacy or give themselves some.

'We need to talk about it,' Bella breathed at last.

'I know,' he admitted, staring at the flames with her. 'But not tonight.'

'Okay,' she agreed, lying back against him once more. 'Not tonight.'

 

**Epilogue**

 

'Not tonight' turned into a few more nights than Bella expected. She should not have been surprised, however, because although she was convinced that Edward wanted this – someday – she was also entirely positive he was trying to find some other route that still involved 'Dartmouth' and 'September' in the same sentence. This thought was interspersed with the knowledge that Edward was not so petty as that and his real reasoning was partly fear and partly a lingering worry over Bella's future regrets.

No matter how many times she explained to him she wasn't going to have any.

It was, finally, Alice that brought it up, in full hearing of the entire family.

'So I've been planning and checking and I think I've figured out the best way to kill you,' she announced one evening near the end of May – apropos of nothing.

Edward _growled_ at her and Bella shot him a half annoyed, half amused look until he stopped.

'Let's hear it,' Bella told her, resolved to treat the entire conversation as both serious and completely irrational at the same time.

Alice practically _giggled_. 'It has to be believable; that's our biggest problem. It can't be too improbable or Charlie will never believe it.'

'I was thinking car accident,' Bella put in, ignoring the horrified look on Edward's face when he realised she'd actually been _thinking about ways of dying_.

Alice nodded sagely. 'Yes, I thought that for a while too, since Charlie thinks we’re going to Vermont. Lots of back roads, can be slippery in the rain. But Charlie also knows you’re used to driving on slick roads and in a new car with much better tire grip.'

'Yeah, that's probably true.'

'So, we came up with another idea. It’s a bit more…unlikely, but harder for Charlie to verify the details.'

Bella stared, hard.

Smiling, Alice went on to explain. ‘Edward and I have already discussed this. We don’t have to turn you _exactly_ the day after we leave. We thought, if you’d like, we can travel a bit for July and then go to the island.'

'I don’t know; should we be delaying this?'

‘I made the choice already, and I don’t see the Volturi kicking up a fuss at a few weeks delay,' Alice winked. Rosalie made a strange little noise that Bella couldn't distinguish, but continued to keep quiet during the discussion. ‘South America is beautiful and you should see it in the sun, at least once. A few weeks of travelling and then we go to Isle Esme..'

'But what about my…death?'

'That’s the slightly more…unique part,' Alice smiled. 'And it's not like we don’t have many options. All the dangers in South America...' she trailed off at the glare on Edward’s face. ‘Right. We’ll, we figured that small private jets don’t have a perfect track record. The plane can go down somewhere over the rain forest in Brazil. Charlie will never be able to get there, the jet fuel will take care of most of the evidence and they’ll be just enough left to ‘identify’ us.’

'Us?'

Alice nodded. ‘Jasper and I will be with you.'

‘Carlisle and Esme will lose four children,' Edward ground out, clearly displeased with how this was turning out.

'Yes, they will. At least to Charlie. But Charlie will look to them for help and support because of that. He’ll take a lot of things at face value, which is exactly what we need to happen,’ Alice said, getting to her point. ‘There will be a minor investigation by Brazilian authorities. Carlisle and Esme will make a trip down to oversee, so Charlie doesn’t have to. Everything will tie up nicely. They’ll be a funeral in Forks. Carlisle and Esme will move to Vermont just like they planned, though a few weeks late and Charlie will be able to mourn.

Bella bit back the tears that were threatening to fall. ‘You’re sure this is the best way?’

'Yes,' Alice admitted, clearly not particularly happy having to recount the plan. 'The rest of the town will believe it was a tragic accident that can only happen to rich people and that you should never have fallen in love with a Cullen. Since we're leaving anyways, it doesn't matter what the town thinks, but that attitude will help Charlie to believe.'

'So, how does this work. Are you going to buy a plane just to crash it?'

'Well we already own one. I plan for us to fly down to South America in it. But we’ll be taking a different way to Brazil, one that is much harder to trace. The flight plan and passenger identities will be filed and that’s what the police will look to when identifying what happened. A few pieces of DNA to survive, and not even for all of us, and that will be all they really need. It’s Brazil; they won’t make much of an effort when it comes to foreigners crashing a plane in their rain forest.'

‘Will Charlie really believe that?’

'Yes,' Alice said.

'How?' Bella pressed, before Edward stopped her.

'Please don't ask anymore. It will be believable and your 'death' will be proved by forensic evidence. Charlie will have no choice but to believe it.'

Biting back tears again, Bella looked at him, reminding herself for a moment that this entire conversation – and the result of it – was more than worth it. Edward reached for her hand, the first time he had touched her since Alice started talking.

'You're sure it will work?' Bella asked again.

Alice nodded easily. 'Positive. And you don't have to worry about anything.'

'I’ll try not to. When will we leave then?'

'Rose and Emmett are going back to New York for a bit next week. They'll come to the island in the summer. Carlisle is leaving the hospital here the second week of July and is _supposed_ to start his new position the following week. Obviously, Esme is going with him. The four of us,' Alice nodded to Bella and Edward as she laid a hand on Jasper's knee,' are leaving for Peru on July 5th.'

Bella knew most of this already. She had already given the story to Charlie that Esme and Carlisle were moving east because of Carlisle's new job – a date he had no control over – before the rest of them went. And Charlie still thought Rose and Emmett were on the east coast anyways.

'So, it's only a week after graduation.'

Bella didn't care one iota about graduation. 'Okay.'

'No,' Edward whispered and abruptly rushed out of the room.

Bella moved to follow him. 'Just give him a minute. This isn't easy for him.'

'It's easy for me?'

Alice winced. 'You've accepted it. Edward still hasn't. Just let me finish and then you can go after him.'

'Okay,' Bella admitted, settling back against the sofa where she was sitting.

'Carlisle and Esme will still be here to help Charlie when news of the plane crash reaches him. They’ll go to Brazil for a few days, ‘see’ the evidence for themselves and the crash site and then report back to Charlie. They’ll stay for the funeral, but Rose and Emmett won’t fly out to join them. Rose will be inconsolable,' Alice finished pointedly. The vampire in question huffed in a way that Bella took to be humour. She didn’t think it was funny herself.

‘Okay, I guess that makes sense,' Bella agreed. 'Let me just...' she motioned out of the room in the direction Edward had gone.

'Go to him,' Alice told her. 'The rest is what _you_ need to work out. No one's made a decision yet, so I can't see.'

Esme appeared in the doorway then. She and Carlisle had left the rest of them to discuss things, since Alice had obviously given them a rundown of what needed to happen earlier. In fact, Bella was pretty sure Edward had heard it already too, but was still choosing to make a big deal out of what _had to happen._

'He's on the back deck, dear,' Esme told her.

Bella gave them all a short smile and went to find her boyfriend. He was standing in the light of the porch lamp, facing out towards the dark forest and river beyond. Bella crept up beside him and they stood in silence for a few minutes.

'You know that I'm not arguing against this. I just find it very difficult to sit there and listen to my sister recount your 'death'.'

Bella slid an arm around his waist and leaned into him. 'I know. It's not _easy_ for me either, but it has to be this way. We don't want to leave any questions behind us.'

'We won't,' he assured her. Then, after a moment, he turned her abruptly to face him. 'Bella,' he breathed.

'What?' she asked.

'We need to talk about what happens when we get to the island.'

'Yes,' Bella agreed, happy that he had raised the point himself.

'But I don't _want_ to talk about it. It should be your choice when it happens. When you're...ready.'

Surprised, she drew back. 'You mean that? If I wanted it the day we arrive...'

'Then...then that is when it will be.'

'Thank you,' she said, not sure what the moment called for. Leaning up she drew her lips to his, the thrill of it coursing through her when Edward responded. As always, he didn't let it go too far. Sighing, Bella rested her forehead against his cold chest. 'I'll tell you when I'm ready, but it won't be the day we get to Alaska.'

Above her, she was certain he smiled.

'But there is something I want. I know we haven't discussed it and we're probably both working on the assumption that Carlisle would be the one to...bite me.'

'But?' Edward said aloud, hearing the implication in her voice.

'But I'd rather it be you,' Bella whispered, as she looked up at him.

It was obvious he was surprised. 'Bella I...I don't think that is a very safe idea. I've never...'

'I know. And if you honestly think – or if Alice thinks – that it's a bad idea, then okay. But I would _prefer_ it be you.'

'I'd like that as well,' he admitted, finally. Perhaps, Bella mused, he _had_ thought about this. 'There is something I wish for as well.'

'Anything,' she said. The _as long as you change me yourself_ , went unspoken.

Edward smiled so wide that Bella's heart skipped a beat.

'Marry me?' he asked her.

And her heart stopped altogether.


End file.
